enry 

;€/ 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

IN  MEMORY  OF 
EDWIN  CORLE 

PRESENTED  BY 
JEAN  CORLE 


letters  to  Beany 

and 

The  'Love-  Letter M 
of   Plupy   Mhute 


By 
HENRY    A.    SHUTE 

Author  of  "The  Real  Diary  of  a  Real  Boy,' 
"Sequll,"  etc.,  etc. 


Published        by 

The     Everett    Press 

Boston,     Mass.,     Mcmv 


Copyright,  1905,  by  Henry  A.  Shute. 


Second  Edition. 


I<     B     T     T     E     R    S 
TO        B     E    A     *     V 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 
£    wish  you  had  been  here  last  sater- 

Iday.  me  and  Ed  Tole  got  into  a 
scrape,  you  know  J.  Albert  Clark 
has  got  some  white  brama  hens 
and  a  old  rooster  most  as  big  as  a  baril. 
J.  Albert  thinks  they  are  the  best  hens 
in  town,  so  when  J.  Albert  let  them  out 
and  went  up  to  his  office  me  and  Ed 
brougt  up  Eds  rooster  to  lick  J.  Alberts 
but  when  we  put  him  down  he  stuck  up 
the  fethers  on  the  back  of  his  head  and 
put  his  wings  up  over  his  back  and  be- 
gun to  sing  like  a  hen  does  when  she 

i 


Letters      to      Beany 

wants  to  lay  a  eg  only  his  voise  was 
squorkier.  when  a  rooster  does  that  he 
wont  fite.  i  suppose  a  rooster  whitch  is 
scart  wants  to  make  the  other  rooster 
think  he  is  a  hen  becaus  a  rooster  wont 
fite  a  hen.  sometimes  a  hen  will  drop 
down  her  wings  and  spred  her  tale  and 
stick  up  the  fethers  on  her  neck  and  try 
to  fite  a  rooster  if  she  hasent  seen  him 
before,  but  the  rooster  only  runs  around 
her  with  1  wing  draging  on  the  ground 
and  says  kitty-kitty-quor  it  is  funny, 
when  a  rooster  gets  ready  to  fite  he 
drops  his  wings  down  and  sticks  up  the 
fethers  on  his  neck,  and  when  he  is 
scart  he  holds  his  wings  up  and  sticks 
up  the  fethers  on  the  back  of  his  head, 
and  so  does  a  hen  two. 


Letters      to      Beany 

well  when  we  knew  Eds  rooster 
woodent  fite  we  chased  him  over  Sam 
Dires  fense  and  down  through  John 
Adams  yard  and  cougt  him  behine  Jo 
Greenleefs  barn,  then  we  went  back 
and  got  a  long  bord  and  a  rock  and 
made  a  sesaw  with  1  end  on  the  ground 
and  we  put  some  corn  on  the  bord  and 
the  hens  climed  up  on  the  bord  and 
then  me  and  Ed  gumped  on  the  other 
end  of  the  bord  and  the  end  where  the 
hens  was  flew  up  and  the  hens  went  up 
in  the  air  squorking  terrible  and  they 
was  so  hevy  that  they  coodent  fly  good 
and  they  come  down  whak  ennyway. 

they  was  pretty  scart,  but  bimeby 
some  of  them  tride  it  agen  and  this 
time  we  sent  them  up  so  high  that  one 

s 


Letters      to     Beany 

come  down  on  her  back  and  dident  get 
up  agen.  she  is  dead,  nobody  saw  us 
and  when  J.  Albert  come  home  tonite 
he  looked  up  in  his  hen  book  to  see 
what  she  dide  of  and  he  said  he  had 
been  feeding  them  two  mutch  and  they 
had  got  two  fat  and  she  dide  of  apo- 
plecksy  jest  like  a  fat  man.  so  he  dont 
feed  them  mutch  now  and  they  have 
stoped  laying,  i  bet  he  wood  be  mad 
if  he  knew  what  she  dide  of. 

i  have  got  a  young  robin,    it  is  tame 
and  eats  wirms  out  of  my  hand,    i  hav- 
ent  seen  Pewt  for  2  days,    wright  soon. 
Yours  very  respectively, 
PLUPY. 


L  e  t  t  e  r  §     to     Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIBE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

I  got  your  letter  all  rite,  i  shood  like 
to  seen  the  fite  between  Frank  Cleves 
and  the  other  feller,  i  am  glad  Frank 
licked,  you  tell  him  i  say  so.  i  always 
like  to  have  the  feller  i  know  lick  in  a 
fite.  has  your  aunt  ever  found  out  that 
you  hooked  her  frute  cake,  if  Tom 
dont  get  mad  with  you  and  tell  her  you 
wont  get  found  out.  if  i  was  you  i  wood 
tell  Tom  you  will  lick  time  out  of  him 
if  he  tells,  you  might  get  him  to  do 
something  prety  tuff  and  then  tell  him 
if  he  tells  on  you,  you  will  tell  on  him. 
then  he  wont  dass  to  tell,  i  saw  Lizzie 
Tole  last  nite.  she  asked  me  if  i  heard 
ennything  from  you  and  i  said  you  was 

5 


Letters     to     Beany 

having  a  pretty  good  time  but  i  gessed 
you  wanted  to  see  somebody  prety  bad. 
Cele  is  mad  with  me  and  i  have  got 
to  beg  her  pardon.  I  cant  go  out  of  the 
yard  until  i  do.  today  Billy  Swett  come 
down  to  invite  Cele  to  go  boat  ride  and 
he  staid  in  the  garden  till  Cele  she 
come  out  and  they  was  talking  out  in 
the  garden  and  i  stuck  my  head  out  of 
the  window  and  sung  that  tune  we 
heard  in  Morris  Brothers  Minstrils  o, 
where  we  met  ile  near  forget  twas  love 
among  the  roses,  and  Cele  timed  as 
red  as  a  beat  and  Billy  he  did  two  and 
when  Cele  come  in  she  told  mother  and 
mother  said  i  had  got  to  beg  her  pardon 
before  i  cood  go  out  of  the  yard,  i  had 


Letters     to     Beany 

ruther  she  wood  lick  me  but  mother 
she  knew  i  coodent  stand  staying  in  the 
yard  and  not  going  in  swiming.  i  told 
Cele  i  wood  give  her  my  new  nife  if  she 
wood  let  me  of  but  she  was  mad  and 
woodent  say  ennything  to  me.  Cele 
dont  get  mad  very  often  but  when  she 
does  she  is  madder  than  ennyone  and 
stays  mad  longer,  so  i  gess  i  will  have 
to  do  it.  i  hate  to  do  it.  my  robins  tale 
is  most  an  inch  long,  i  have  to  keep 
diging  wirms  and  it  is  prety  hard  to  get 
them,  i  have  dug  up  round  the  sink 
drane  and  they  aint  enny  more  there 
and  now  i  tirn  up  bords  that  have  been 
down  on  the  ground  and  sometimes  i 
get  some  big  ones  before  they  can  crawl 

7 


Letters      to      Beany 

back  in  there  holes,    when  are  you  com- 
ing back,    wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

did  you  know  if  you  take  a  dead  hor- 
net or  bumble  bee  or  wasp  and  put  it 
down  a  fellers  back  and  then  lam  him 
on  the  place  where  the  hornet  is  it  will 
sting  him  jest  the  same  as  if  the  hornet 
was  alive,  i  found  it  out  this  way.  i 
found  a  dead  hornet  and  picked  it  up 
and  squashed  it  in  my  hand  and  it  stang 
me  terrible,  then  i  got  another  and  put 
it  down  Medo  Thirstens  back  and  while 


Letters      to     Beany 

he  was  bending  over  trying  to  get  it  out 
i  lammed  him  one  and  you  had  aught 
to  hear  him  holler,  he  nearly  timed 
himself  rong  side  out  trying  to  get  that 
hornet  out.  after  he  got  over  it  we  put 
sum  mud  on  the  sting  and  i  told  him 
about  it.  we  are  going  to  try  it  on  Pewt. 
why  dont  you  try  it  on  Frank  Cleves. 
perhaps  it  wood  be  better  to  try  it  on 
Tom  for  Frank  can  lick  you  and  Tom 
cant  and  when  a  feller  has  got  stang  by 
a  hornet  he  wants  to  hit  somebody  rite 
of.  if  you  want  to  try  it  on  enny  of  the 
fellers  you  can  go  to  some  place  where 
they  is  a  hornets  nest  and  take  a  shin- 
gle and  you  can  most  always  kill  some, 
you  may  get  stang  but  it  is  wirth  get- 
ing  stang  to  see  some  feller  hop  and 


Letters     to     Beany 

holler  and  try  to  get  a  hornet  out  of 
his  neck,  i  will  tell  you  how  we  will 
play  it  on  Pewt.  i  wish  you  was  back, 
i  saw  your  father  today  riding  his 
horse,  i  tell  you  he  set  up  strate  and 
looked  fine,  wright  soon  and  tell  me 
if  they  is  enny  fites. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

I  got  your  letter,  it  was  buly.  i 
thougt  i  shood  die  when  i  read  how  you 
put  the  hornet  in  your  uncles  chair,  did 
he  sware  as  bad  as  father  did  when  he 
hit  his  nose  agenst  the  door  in  the  dark  ? 
10 


Letters     to     Beany 

i  shoodent  ever  thaugt  of  that,  it  was 
better  than  when  we  listed  to  put  pens 
in  Micky  Goulds  seat  in  school,  only 
you  will  have  to  wate  a  while  before 
you  put  one  down  Toms  neck  or  you 
will  get  caugt. 

I  went  up  to  Whacks  today.  Boog 
and  Poz  is  sick  with  chicking  pocks.  I 
have  had  it  and  so  i  cood  go  in  and  see 
them,  i  went  up  in  there  room  and 
they  was  in  bed,  Boog  in  one  side  of 
the  room  and  Poz  in  the  other,  ferst 
Boog  said  he  had  more  speckles  on 
him  then  Poz  and  was  sicker  than  Poz 
and  Poz  said  he  bet  he  had  the  most, 
and  they  begun  to  count  and  Poz  said 
Boog  coodent  count  the  bile  on  his 
neck  and  Boog  said  it  wasent  a  bile 

11 


Letters     to     Beany 

but  a  chicking  pocks  speckle  and  Poz 
said  it  was  a  bile  and  Boog  said  it  was- 
ent  and  Poz  said  he  cood  back  it  up  and 
Boog  said  Poz  dident  dass  to  come  half 
way  and  Poz  gumped  out  of  bed  and 
Boog  he  did  two  and  they  saled  rite  in- 
to eech  other  in  there  shert  tales  and 
had  the  buliest  fite  you  ever  see  til 
they  heard  their  mother  calling  up 
stairs  to  know  what  they  was  doing, 
and  they  piled  into  bed  and  said  they 
was  rassling  and  they  said  they  wood 
keep  still  if  Plupy  wood  read  to  them, 
so  i  read  Masterman  Reddy.  i  never 
see  such  fellers  in  my  life  to  fite.  i  told 
them  about  the  hornet  goke  and  they 
said  when  they  got  well  they  wood  try 
it  on  Whack,  i  saw  Lizzie  Tole  today. 

12 


Letters      to     Beany 

i  asked  her  if  she  had  heard  from  Beany 
and  she  timed  prety  red.  i  bet  you  are 
wrighting  to  her,  Beany,  aint  you.  my 
robin  is  all  rite,  wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  have  performed  a  operation  on  one 
of  my  hens,  she  had  a  hard  crop,  she 
had  et  so  mutch  that  her  crop  was  2 
times  as  big  as  a  base  ball  and  hard  as 
one.  J.  Albert  Clark  looked  in  his  hen 
book  and  said  the  only  way  to  cure  the 
hen  was  to  cut  open  the  crop  and  take 
out  the  corn  and  things  she  had  et  and 

is 


Letters     to     Beany 

then  wash  the  crop  out  with  warm 
water  and  then  sow  up  the  hole  and 
the  hen  wood  get  well,  he  read  me  jest 
what  the  book  said,  so  i  got  mothers 
sizzers  and  a  needle  and  some  black 
thred  and  i  got  the  hen  and  put  her  on 
her  back  in  the  barn,  then  i  put  my 
gnee  on  eech  of  her  wings  so  she  cood- 
ent  get  away,  then  i  cut  a  little  hole  in 
her  crop  and  put  my  finger  in  and  timed 
her  over  and  squesed  her  crop  til  i  got 
everything  out.  then  i  washed  it  out 
with  warm  water  and  sowed  it  up  tite 
so  it  wood  not  leek,  then  i  put  a  little 
lard  on  the  cut  place  and  let  her  go  and 
she  was  all  rite,  i  gess  i  will  be  a  doctor 
when  i  am  a  man  unless  i  can  play  in 
the  band,  when  i  fed  my  hens  tonite 

14 


Letters     to      Beany 

she  coodent  eat  very  well  but  i  gess  her 
crop  is  sore. 

my  robin  dident  seem  very  well  to- 
day, i  am  going  to  get  some  black  cher- 
rys  for  him  tomorrow,  i  wish  i  cood 
come  down  to  old  orchard  to  see  you 
but  i  aint  got  enny  chink,  when  are 
you  coming  home.  Pewt  fell  of  a  lad- 
der today,  and  hit  on  his  head,  it 
dident  hurt  him  mutch,  father  says  his 
head  is  solid  way  threw. 

this  is  all  i  can  wright  tonite. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


Letters     to     Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

Why  in  time  havent  you  rote  to  me. 
i  aint  going  to  do  all  the  wrighting. 
this  is  the  last  letter  i  shall  wright  you 
til  you  send  me  a  letter,  i  only  wright 
this  to  tell  you  what  tuff  luck  i  have  had. 
wensday  my  hen  whitch  i  cut  open  the 
crop  of  dide.  i  see  she  wasent  well  fer 
when  i  fed  her  she  wood  try  to  eat  and 
wood  swalow  some  corn  down  and  then 
wood  shake  her  head  and  shake  it  all 
out.  so  she  set  all  humped  up  and 
dide.  then  me  and  J.  Albert  xamined 
her  and  gess  what  we  found,  i  had 
sewed  her  crop  up  so  she  coodent  get 
ennything  into  it  and  starfed  to  deth. 
I  felt  prety  bad  about  it.  then  yester- 

16 


It  e  t  t  e  r  §      to      Beany 

day  my  robin  dide.  i  had  went  out 
every  day  for  cherrys  and  i  had  dug 
the  whole  garden  up  for  wirms  and 
still  he  dide.  it  was  prety  tuff  to  see 
him  try  to  eat,  I  did  everthing  for  him. 
Mother  says  it  is  cruel  to  keep  him  but 
i  aint  never  cruel  to  animals,  or  birds 
or  hens,  did  you  know  that  if  2  dogs 
is  growling  and  walking  round  each 
other  with  their  tales  stiff  that  if  you 
hit  them  with  a  sling  shot  they  will  fite 
every  time,  i  have  got  a  new  sling  shot 
jest  for  that,  it  is  fun  to  see  them  gump 
for  eech  other  when  one  gets  hit  with 
a  sling  shot,  cats  is  diferent.  yester- 
day they  was  2  cats  over  in  the  school 
yard  rite  up  in  front  of  eech  other  with 
their  ears  lade  back  and  yowling  terri- 

17 


Letters     to     Beany 

ble  and  timing  their  heads  round  and 
round,  i  wached  them  for  a  long  time 
to  see  them  fite.  bimeby  i  drew  the 
sling  shot  back  as  far  a  i  cood  and  let 
ding  at  them  and  hit  one  in  the  back, 
i  wish  you  cood  see  him  hiper.  he  did- 
ent  stop  to  fite  but  he  went  over  the 
school  house  fence,  and  down  by  old 
Heads  shop,  the  other  looked  round 
with  his  eyes  as  big  as  his  head  and 
begun  to  crawl  of  slow  and  i  let  ding  at 
him  and  he  spit  and  yowled  and  tried 
to  run  in  2  or  3  diferent  ways  at  once 
and  then  he  went  of  like  litening. 
remember  to  wright. 
»  Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


Letters     to     Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  got  your  letter  all  rite  jest  as  i  went 
down  to  the  post  ofice  to  put  in  mine, 
did  Tom  holler  good,  i  bet  he  wood  be 
mad  if  he  knew  you  did  it  on  perpose. 
some  day  you  had  aught  to  tell  him  so 
he  can  play  it  on  Frank  and  then  he 
will  git  licked  and  you  wont,  i  have 
never  swam  in  salt  water  but  i  bet  i  can 
beat  ennyone  in  fresh  water,  every  day 
i  go  in  i  swim  under  water  across  the 
gravil  and  they  aint  none  of  the  fellers 
can  do  it.  we  was  all  at  Whacks  today 
and  we  went  in  swiming  at  Sandy 
bottum  and  after  we  come  out  we  set 
on  the  bank  and  voated  to  see  whitch 
feller  cood  do  things  the  best,  they 

10 


JL  e  t  t  e  r  §     to     Beany 

voated  me  the  best  swimer  and  Toin- 
tit  the  best  runner  and  Billy  Folsom  the 
best  trapeese  performer,  and  you  the 
best  eater,  you  beat  Fatty  by  2  voats, 
and  Prisiller  the  best  organ  player  and 
Potter  Gorum  the  best  feller,  when  it 
came  to  voat  whitch  was  the  best  fiter 
we  all  was  going  to  voat  for  ourselfs 
but  Whack  said  if  it  was  a  ti  voat  they 
wood  have  to  fite  it  out  to  see  whitch 
was  the  champeen  and  so  we  all  voated 
for  the  Chadwicks  and  Whack  had  4 
and  Boog  4  and  Puzzy  had  3  and  then 
Whack  and  Boog  squared  of  and  jest 
paisted  eech  other  til  Whack  beat  him. 
Boog  dident  give  up  only  he  had  been 
sick  with  the  chicking  pocks.  Boog 
20 


Letters      to     Beany 

says  when   he  gets   well  he  will  lick 
Whack. 

I  dont  know  whitch  I  had  ruther  be 
the  best  fiter  or  the  best  feller,  i  gess 
i  wood  ruther  be  the  best  fiter  be- 
caus  if  i  cood  lick  all  the  fellers  i  wood 
go  to  eech  one  and  say  aint  i  the  best 
feller  and  if  he -said  yes  i  wood  be  his 
frend  and  help  him  lick  other  fellers 
and  if  he  said  no  i  wood  lam  time  out 
of  him,  woodent  you.  i  have  got  a  pat- 
rige,  it  has  got  a  lame  wing  and  cant 
fly.  i  went  up  to  the  Eddy  woods  and 
got  a  lots  of  moss  and  patrige  berrys 
and  have  made  a  cage  and  fitted  the 
bottum  with  moss  and  put  in  some  lit- 
tle pine  trees  and  made  it  seam  jest 

21 


Letters      to      Beany 

like  home  to  him.  he  et  patrige  berrys 
and  drunk  water  jest  like  a  hen.  he 
wont  eat  wirms  or  corn,  i  shall  have  to 
go  up  to  the  eddy  most  every  day  to  get 
things  for  him  to  eat. 
wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

my  patrige  dide  last  Sunday,  it  et 
well  but  i  gess  the  wound  in  the  wing 
killed  it.  ennyway  even  mother  said  i 
took  good  care  of  it.  Luke  Manix  give 
me  a  young  hen  hork.  it  is  most  the 
same  color  of  the  patrige  only  it  has 


Letters      to      Beany 

yellow  eyes  and  yellow  legs  and  black 
claws,  i  wish  you  cood  see  it  gob  down 
a  minny.  i  have  to  go  fishing  most  every 
day  for  it.  it  will  eat  mice  and  swalow 
them  whole,  it  can  fite  and  last  nite 
father  was  holding  out  a  minny  to  it 
and  it  stuck  out  its  claw  and  grabed 
him  by  the  finger,  i  gess  i  wont  wright 
down  what  he  said,  ennyway  he  sent 
me  to  bed  for  laffing  and  said  he  wood 
kill  the  hork.  after  i  went  to  bed  father 
and  mother  set  out  on  the  steps  talking 
and  i  cood  hear  them,  mother  said  it 
dident  hurt  me  enny  to  have  pet  ani- 
mals and  father  hadent  aught  to  kill 
the  hork,  and  father  he  said  he  never 
see  such  a  boy,  that  he  wasent  going  to 
keep  a  menaggery  enny  longer,  he 


Letters     to     Beany 

said  first  it  was  snakes  and  then  toads 
and  eels  and  hen  horks  and  owls  and 
sick  hens  and  he  was  geting  sick  of  it. 
and  mother  she  said  as  long  as  it  kept 
me  to  home  she  was  willing  to  let  me 
have  them  and  father  he  said  wood 
you  like  to  have  him  bring  a  dead  fish 
home  in  his  pocket  the  way  he  did  that 
time  I  took  down  the  plastering,  and 
mother  laffed  and  said  they  was  wirse 
things  than  dead  fish  and  aunt  Sarah 
said  fathers  old  pipe  smelt  wirse  than 
that  and  father  he  said  well  i  cood  have 
my  hork  if  they  wanted  him  only  if  i 
come  home  with  a  snaping  tirtle  they 
mustent  blame  him  and  then  he  went 
over  to  see  your  father  and  he  dident 
kill  my  hork. 

24 


Letters      to      Beany 

do  you  remember  Beany  the  day  i 
come  home  and  found  my  rooster  out 
and  all  bludy,  i  bet  father  let  him  out 
to  fite  John  Adams  rooster,  i  never 
dassed  to  tell  him  so  for  he  wood  give 
me  a  good  bat. 
wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Eeany, 

i  aint  going  to  wright  enny  more  if 
you  send  me  enny  more  such  stingy 
little  letters,  you  aint  got  to  wright 
to  ennybody  else  xcept  me,  unless  it  is 
Lizzie  Tole.  You  say  you  dont  but  i 

25 


Letters      to      Beany 

bet  you  do.  ennyway  you  have  got  to 
wright  better  letters  or  you  dont  hear 
from  Plupy.  me  and  Pewt  went  fish- 
ing today,  it  wasent  a  good  day  for 
fishing  and  we  dident  get  ennything. 
somebody  has  tore  down  the  spring 
bord  f*t  the  Oak.  enny  feller  whitch 
will  tear  down  a  spring  bord  had  aught 
to  be  skined  alive,  we  got  a  bord  of 
the  fense  in  Gilmans  field  and  made  a 
new  spring  bord.  so  we  are  all  rite. 
Pewt  is  a  prety  good  diver  but  i  can 
beat  him  becaus  i  can  go  into  the  water 
without  hardley  enny  splash  and  Pewts 
legs  duble  up  and  it  makes  a  big  spat- 
ter, the  way  to  dive  is  to  go  into  the 
water  jest  like  a  stick  that  you  throw 
in  endways  and  it  dont  make  enny 

20 


Letters      to      Beany 

noise,  do  you  know  Beany  that  if  you 
plugged  a  pebble  up  in  the  air  jest  as 
high  as  you  can  it  will  come  down  in 
the  water  jest  like  this  blub  without 
enny  splash  at  all. 
wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 
X 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  never  got  a  meener  letter  in  my  life 
than  your  last  letter,  i  wood  like  to 
know  who  told  you  so  many  lies  about 
me.  what  if  i  did  go  down  to  Ed  Toles 
to  supper.  Ed  he  invited  me  and  Eds 
mother  she  told  me  where  to  set  at  the 
table,  i  gess  they  wood  have  thaugt  i 

27 


Letters     to      Beany 

was  polite  if  i  had  up  and  said  i  dident 
want  to  set  next  to  Lizzie,  i  had  a  good 
supper  and  had  a  good  time  and  you 
aint  got  enny  business  to  be  mad.  i  like 
to  go  down  to  the  Toles  but  you  know 
me  and  Ed  is  more  interested  in  hens 
than  in  girls,  i  woodent  be  such  a  fool 
if  i  was  you  Beany,  i  thaugt  me  and 
you  was  better  friends  than  that,  enny- 
way  if  you  want  to  be  mad  you  can  for 
all  i  care  only  i  shall  go  jest  where  i  want 
to.  i  like  you  Beany  more  than  enny  fel- 
ler i  know  but  if  you  get  mad  every 
time  i  look  or  speek  to  your  girl  they 
aint  much  use  in  us  trying  to  be  f rends, 
now  Beany  what  is  the  use  of  being 
mad.  we  have  had  two  mutch  fun  to  be 
mad  over  a  little  thing  like  that,  they 


Letters      to     Beany 

is  one  thing  certain  if  you  want  to  get 
mad  i  will  jest  tell  all  the  fellers  jest 
what  you  was  mad  at  and  they  will 
plage  the  life  out  of  you  when  you  get 
back,  aint  it  about  time  for  you  to 
come  back  ennyway.  i  bet  we  are  hav- 
ing jest  as  much  fun  here  as  in  old 
orchard,  every  friday  the  band  plays 
in  the  band  room  and  we  play  red  lion 
and  corn-storks  and  corum  and  all  the 
games,  this  is  the  last  letter  i  shall 
wright  until  you  wright  a  desent  one 
to  me  and  say  you  aint  mad.  you  can 
be  mad  if  you  want  to  but  you  hadent 
better,  i  dont  care  whether  you  wright 
or  not. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 

29 


betters      to      Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  got  your  letter,  it  was  all  rite,  i 
thaugt  you  woodent  keep  mad  very 
long,  the  star  fish  was  prety  dry  and 
one  point  was  broak  of.  i  have  naled 
it  up  on  the  wall,  i  hope  you  wont  for- 
get the  horseshue  crab  you  promised 
me.  do  you  know  what  i  did  when  i  got 
your  letter,  well  i  got  in  a  auful  scrape, 
i  was  down  to  Eds  and  Lizzie  and  Mary 
Straton  were  going  through  the  yard 
and  me  and  Ed  put  birs  in  there  hair, 
you  know  they  is  lots  of  last  years  birs 
back  of  Eds  barn,  the  girls  was  auful 
mad  and  tride  to  get  them  out  and  cood- 
ent  and  they  went  into  the  house  ball- 
ing, in  a  minit  Missis  Tole  come  out 

30 


Li  e  t  t  e  r  §      to      Beany 

and  hollered  Eddie  Tole  you  come 
strate  into  the  house,  i  cood  see  she 
was  mad  and  i  put  for  home,  well  that 
nite  father  went  down  town  after  sup- 
per and  come  home  mad  as  time  and 
asked  for  me  and  i  cood  tell  by  his 
voise  he  was  mad  and  i  hid,  and  i  heard 
him  tell  mother  that  i  had  put  birs  in 
the  Tole  girls  hair  and  the  Straton  girls 
hair  and  they  coodent  get  them  out  and 
they  was  afrade  they  wood  have  to  cut 
of  their  hair  and  he  wood  lern  me  a  les- 
son, i  knew  what  that  meant  and  i  staid 
hid  til  nearly  9  oh.  clock  hoping  father 
wood  go  to  bed  but  he  dident  and  when 
i  heard  him  say  he  wood  give  me  2  lick- 
ings 1  for  puting  birs  in  her  hair  and  1 
for  staying  out  late  i  thaugt  i  had  better 

31 


Letters      to      Beany 

go  in.  so  i  did  and  i  got  the  aufullest 
whaling  i  ever  got  and  he  told  me  i 
must  go  down  to  Toles  and  beg  their 
pardon.  Aunt  Sarah  was  mad  when 
father  begun  to  lick  me  and  went  into 
her  room  and  slamed  the  door,  she 
never  gets  mad  xcept  when  father  or 
somebody  else  licks  me.  the  next  day 
i  had  to  go  down  and  beg  their  pardon. 
Lizzie  was  mad  and  woodent  say  a 
word  to  me  and  held  her  nose  rite  up 
in  the  air.  i  tell  you  i  was  ashamd  enuf . 
ennyway  Ed  had  to  go  up  to  Stratons 
and  beg  Mary's  pardon  but  he  dident 
get  licked  the  way  i  did  because  he 
waited  till  old  Straton  was  down  to  the 
gas  house.  Ed  always  has  good  luck, 
now  Beany  i  hope  you  are  satisfied,  you 


Letter§      to      Beany 

have  got  me  mad  with  all  the  Toles  and 
i  cant  ever  go  down  there  agen.  now  i 
hope  you  wont  wright  me  enny  more 
such  letters  as  the  last  one.  you  wood- 
ent  do  half  as  much  for  me.  i  think  i 
aught  to  have  2  horseshue  crabes. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

you  are  the  darndest  feller  i  ever  see. 
first  you  are  mad  becaus  i  am  polite  to 
your  girl  and  then  you  are  mad  becaus 
i  sass  her  and  put  birs  in  her  hair  and 
you  say  you  will  meller  my  nose  the 
next  time  you  see  me.  well  now  i  jest 

33 


Letters      to      Beany 

want  you  to  know  that  you  aint  man 
enuf  to  do  it.  my  father  can  lick  your 
father  and  my  mother  can  lick  your 
mother  and  i  can  lick  you.  so  now 
what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it,  old 
Beany. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE,  -  ,  186- 
Dear  Beany, 

you  talk  now  as  if  you  had  got  some 
sense  so  i  wont  say  enny  more  about  it. 
ennyway  i  cant  go  down  to  Eds  enny 
more  so  i  go  up  to  Fattys  or  Whacks  or 
Potters  or  Billy  Folsoms.  Billy  has  got 
a  horisondal  bar  up  in  his  barn  on  the 

34 


JLetters      to      Beany 

hay  mow.  when  you  try  to  skin  the  cat 
and  fall  of  and  lite  on  your  head  it  dont 
hurt  very  much.  Billy  can  skin  the  cat 
and  do  the  mussle  grind,  i  wish  i  cood. 
i  can  hang  by  my  heels  from  a  trapeese 
but  i  cant  get  down  unless  i  fall  down 
on  my  head  so  i  have  to  take  a  soft 
place  or  brake  my  neck,  yesterday 
afternoon  i  went  up  to  Whacks  and 
pluged  green  apples,  last  nite  when  i 
went  to  bed  i  was  all  over  lumps  and 
blew  spots  where  i  had  got  hit.  rotten 
apples  dont  hurt  much  but  they  squash 
up  on  your  best  cloths.  Porter  Robin- 
son let  me  drive  his  black  horse  today 
and  old  Head  said  i  cood  ride  his  some 
day.  do  you  remember  the  time  we 
took  both  his  horses  and  raced  them 

35 


Letters      to      Beany 

all  the  afternoon  when  he  wanted  to 
take  Missis  Head  to  ride,  ennyway  he 
coodent  catch  us  and  we  was  all  rite, 
i  gess  he  has  forgot  that,  have  you 
plaid  the  hornet  goke  on  Frank  yet. 
my  hork  can  fly  now  and  today  he  got 
up  in  a  tree  and  2  king  birds  fit  with 
him  until  he  had  to  fly  into  the  barn, 
he  has  got  so  he  can  eat  horn  powt. 
he  gumps  on  them  and  holds  them 
down  with  his  claw  and  tears  them  up 
with  his  beak,  i  havent  seen  a  fite  for 
ever  so  long, 
wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


Letters     to     Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

lots  of  things  has  happened  sence  i 
wrote  you  last,  you  know  that  all  the 
old  men  said  father  was  a  feerful  fiter 
when  he  was  young,  well  he  can  fite 
now  i  tell  you.  last  Sunday  we  was  all 
setting  in  the  yard  and  we  heard  feer- 
ful swaring  out  in  the  road  and  we  run 
to  the  fense  and  looked  and  they  was 
Lamp  Flood  and  Bill  Hartnet  and  some 
other  fellers  had  grabed  uncle  Charles 
who  was  a  old  man  and  said  they  was 
going  to  put  him  under  Mager  B  lakes 
pump,  well  while  we  was  looking  and 
they  was  draging  him  along  swaring 
father  come  out  of  the  frunt  door  with 
his  coat  tales  flying  and  he  saled  into 

87 


Letters      to      Beany 

that  crowd  jest  like  Heenan.  he  hit 
Lamp  Flood  in  the  ear  and  nocked 
him  rite  through  the  school  house  fense 
and  he  nocked  Bill  Hartnet  fluking  in 
the  gutter  and  he  grabed  a  feller  i  did- 
ent  know  by  the  coller  and  threw  him 
way  down  South  street  and  they  did- 
ent  want  any  more  of  him  you  bet  and 
uncle  Charles  was  waiving  his  cane  and 
dasting  them  to  come  back  and  fite  and 
swaring  terrible  and  father  grabed  him 
by  the  arm  and  was  getting  him  into 
the  house  and  mother  and  aunt  Sarah 
and  Missis  Head  and  aunt  Clark  come 
out  and  asked  him  what  was  the  mat- 
ter and  uncle  Charles  he  said  they  in- 
sulted him,  and  they  kept  asking  what 
they  said  to  him  and  o  Beany  i  wish 


Letters      to      Beany 

you  had  been  here,  you  wood  have 
dide  laffing.  i  woodent  dass  to  wright 
down  what  they  said  but  i  will  tell  you 
when  you  get  home,  and  father  he  said 
now  ladies  if  you  have  satisfide  your 
curosity  i  will  take  this  old  man  home 
and  you  bet  they  all  hipered  into  the 
house  prety  lively  and  father  he  went 
of  with  uncle  Charles  laffing  his  head 
of  and  uncle  Charles  swaring  terrible 
and  waiving  his  cane, 
wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


89 


Letters      to     Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  got  a  letter  yesterday  from  you  and 
when  i  opened  it  i  thougt  it  was  wrote 
better  than  most  of  your  letters  and  i 
nearly  bust  when  it  begun  Dear  Lizzie, 
and  when  i  read  the  rest  of  the  letter  i 
nearly  dide.  o  Beany  i  gess  i  have  got 
one  on  you.  you  sent  her  letter  to  me. 
you  said  you  dident  wright  enny  letters 
to  her  or  enny  girl  and  i  bet  you  have 
been  wrighting  to  her  rite  along,  you 
told  a  feerful  old  whacker  of  a  lie.  enny- 
way  you  wrote  mity  meen  things  about 
me.  you  told  her  that  i  had  been  tell- 
ing lies  about  her  and  that  i  said  Nell 
Dunlap  was  pretier  than  she  was  and 
that  was  a  lie  Beany  and  you  know  it. 

40 


Letters     to     Beany 

and  i  never  told  enny  lies  about  her 
eether.  it  was  the  meenest  thing  i  ever 
knew  you  to  do  and  after  all  i  have  done 
for  you.  i  bet  you  woodent  have  put 
enny  birs  in  a  girls  hair  and  got  her 
folks  mad  with  you  and  got  a  licking 
for  me  like  i  did  for  you  Beany,  then 
agen  you  said  you  cood  lick  me  easy 
and  that  you  wood  lick  me  jest  as  soon 
as  you  got  home  for  telling  stories  about 
her.  you  aint  man  enuf  to  do  it  Beany, 
and  i  am  going  to  tell  her  so  two.  you 
thaugt  you  was  prety  smart  to  wright 
meen  things  about  me  to  your  girl  be- 
caus  you  wanted  her  to  be  mad  with 
me  and  you  dident  think  i  wood  ever 
know  it.  i  gess  i  cood  tell  enuf  things 
about  you  if  i  was  meen  enuf.  I  bet 

41 


Letters      to     Beany 

Pewt  wood  laff  and  so  wood  Ed  Tole 
and  Whack  and  Boog  and  Fatty  and 
Nipper  and  all  the  other  fellers  if  i  give 
them  your  letter,  spesialy  at  the  silly 
parts. 

you  know  you  said  one  time  that 
you  liked  May  Rundlett  better  than 
enny  girl  in  town  and  i  wood  tell  her 
what  you  said  if  i  was  meen  enuf  only 
i  aint  so  meen  as  you  are  Beany,  now 
Beany  i  tell  you  jest  what  i  am  going 
to  do  about  it.  you  have  got  to  give 
me  that  riding  whip  that  Dan  Gilman 
give  you.  that  one  with  the  broken 
handel  and  your  sling  shot  and  2  horse 
shue  crabs,  you  promised  me  the  crabs 
before,  and  some  more  star  fish,  if 
you  dont  i  will  tell  her  about  the  letter 

42 


^Letters      to      Beany 

and  will  show  the  letter  to  Pewt  and 
the  other  fellers,  that  will  lern  you  not 
to  wright  meen  things  about  a  feller. 
Wright  rite  of. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  got  your  last  letter  all  rite,  now 
you  needent  get  mad  for  i  dont  care  if 
you  do.  and  you  needent  come  beging 
round  for  me  to  send  back  the  letter  for 
i  am  going  to  hold  the  letter  till  i  get 
them  things,  and  i  aint  meen  about  it 
eether.  do  you  remember  the  time  that 
me  and  you  was  pardners  in  a  store  in 

43 


Letters      to      Beany 

my  shed  and  jest  becaus  i  woodent  let 
you  drink  up  the  sweatened  water  and 
smoke  up  the  sweet  firn  segars  you  got 
mad  and  went  pardners  with  Pewt  and 
tride  to  get  all  my  trade,  do  you  remem- 
ber that  Beany,  and  then  you  and  Pewt 
got  mad  and  you  both  said  the  other 
cheeted  eech  one.  i  shood  think  that 
wood  lern  you  not  to  be  meen.  enny- 
way  i  aint  meen  about  it.  if  i  had  been 
i  wood  have  made  you  give  me  all  your 
marbles  and  your  bow  gun.  you  can 
bring  the  horse  shue  crabs  home  when 
you  come  home,  and  i  dont  want  your 
old  riding  whip  ennyway.  only  i  am 
going  to  hang  on  to  that  letter  and  if 
you  give  me  enny  sass  i  will  show  it  to 
the  fellers,  i  bet  if  you  had  a  letter  of 

44 


[Letters     to     Beany 

mine  like  that  you  wood  show  it  to 
every  feller  in  town  and  rase  time  with 
me.  say  Beany  i  was  telling  Tady  Fen- 
ton  about  the  hornet  goke  and  he  said 
if  you  got  a  hornets  nest  in  the  winter 
and  put  it  in  a  warm  room  the  hornets 
will  come  out  mad  and  sting  time  out 
of  everybody,  he  said  once  he  put  one 
hi  old  Francis  school  and  the  hornets 
come  out  and  all  the  scholars  piled  out 
of  school  and  old  Francis  two  and  they 
stang  old  Francis  2  times  in  the  leg  and 
he  piled  out  two.  and  they  had  to  wate 
till  the  fire  was  all  out  and  they  opened 
the  windows  and  when  the  hornets  was 
all  num  with  cold  they  scraped  them 
up  and  put  them  in  the  stove,  the  next 
day  old  Francis  found  out  that  Tady 

45 


Letters      to     Beany 

brougt  in  the  nest  and  he  whaled  him 
feerful.  Tady  said  it  was  the  wirst 
licking  he  ever  got  but  it  was  wirth  it 
to  see  old  Francis  dance  and  make  up 
faces  when  the  hornets  stang  him  in 
the  leg.  we  will  try  it  next  winter, 
wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

\  was  auful  sorry  you  was  sick,  did- 
ent  you  know  cucumbers  and  milk  was 
bad  for  you.  i  shood  have  thaugt  you 
wood  know  that,  the  Chadwicks  is  the 
only  fellers  whitch  can  eat  cucumbers 

46 


Letters      to      Beany 

and  milk,  one  day  last  week  i  was  up 
to  Chadwicks  and  they  et  green  apples 
and  currents  and  green  goozberrys  and 
black  cherrys  and  drank  milk  and  they 
wasent  sick  a  bit.  none  of  the  rest  of 
us  whitch  had  et  the  green  apples  and 
currents  and  goozberrys  and  black  cher- 
rys dassed  to  drink  the  milk  but  Nipper 
was  sick  and  Pewt  he  was  two  and  i 
was  kind  of  sick  but  mother  gave  me 
some  caster  oil  whitch  made  me  a  good 
deal  wirse  and  father  he  said  if  i  had 
drank  the  milk  two  i  wood  have  climed 
the  golden  stairs,  and  mother  she  said 
George  i  wish  you  woodent  talk  like 
that  and  Aunt  Sarah  she  said  so  two. 
father  pretended  he  dident  care  when  i 
was  gaging  but  he  kep  asking  me  if  i 

47 


Letters     to     Beany 

was  better  and  mother  she  said  he  was 
scarter  than  she  was.  he  said  i  hadent 
aught  to  eat  more  than  14  kinds  of  fruit 
with  milk  and  that  if  i  wanted  to  see 
how  mutch  of  that  stuff  i  cood  eat  i  had 
better  try  some  tacks  and  some  broken 
glass,  that  was  after  i  was  better  that 
he  said  that,  old  Si  Smiths  dog  dide 
from  eating  broken  glass  in  some  meat, 
so  i  gess  i  wont  eat  enny.  old  Si  said 
he  wood  give  50  dolars  if  he  cood  find 
out  who  did  it.  he  thaugt  Squawboo 
Bowley  did  it  becaus  old  Sis  dog  had 
bit  Squawboo  most  every  time  he  went 
by  Sis  store  and  Squawboo  said  he  was 
getting  sick  of  being  norred  by  a  dog 
every  day.  ennyway  old  Si  coodent 
find  out  and  all  he  cood  do  was  to  sit 

48 


L  e  t  t  e  r  §      to      Beany 

on  his  steps  and  sware  about  it.  i  am 
glad  the  old  dog  is  dead  becaus  he  come 
out  at  me  one  day.  i  wish  somebody 
wood  give  old  man  Dows  dog  some  two 
for  he  is  crosser  than  old  Sis  dog  was. 
he  is  a  brother  of  old  Sis  dog.  Ed  Tole 
come  up  for  me  to  go  down  and  see  his 
new  rooster,  he  is  a  bolton  gray,  i  did- 
ent  dass  to  go. 
Wright  soon. 

yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  am  glad  you  are  all  well  agen.    i 
hope  you  dident  wurry  about  that  let- 

49 


Letters      to      Beany 

ter.  i  havent  showed  it  to  ennybody.  i 
woodent  be  so  meen  as  to  do  that  when 
a  feller  is  sick  and  may  die.  i  was  sorry 
i  plaged  you  about  the  letter  and  i  did- 
ent  know  but  it  mite  have  made  you 
sick,  i  was  glad  when  you  wrote  me 
what  the  matter  was.  if  peeple  wasent 
meen  they  woodent  be  much  truble  in 
this  world  wood  they  Beany,  if  peeple 
only  knew  how  mutch  fellers  hated 
them  for  being  meen  they  wood  try  not 
to  be  meen.  but  i  supose  they  dont 
know,  do  you  remember  how  mad  Bill 
Morril  was  when  he  made  us  stop  play- 
ing 3  old  cat  in  the  high  school  yard  be- 
caus  we  broak  his  windows,  we  dident 
meen  to  do  it  and  we  only  broak  5.  and 
Nippers  father  got  mad  when  we  run 

50 


Letters      to      Beany 

down  thru  his  garden  one  nite  when  we 
was  playing  red  lion,  when  we  grow 
up  Beany  less  have  things  diferent  and 
say  to  the  fellers,  fellers  if  you  want  to 
play  ball  in  front  of  our  house  play  all 
you  want  to  and  if  you  brake  a  window 
all  rite  as  long  as  you  dont  try  to  do  it 
on  perpose,  and  if  a  feller  tries  to  hang 
on  behind  when  we  are  driving  a  horse 
we  wont  whip  behind  or  hit  them  a 
larup  but  we  will  say  get  in  feller  and 
have  a  ride,  do  you  remember  how 
mad  those  Hamton  Falls  men  was  when 
we  pluged  the  geese  eggs  at  there  cows 
and  how  i  had  to  pay  out  all  my  cornet 
money  to  them,  well  father  he  told  me 
that  one  of  those  men  sold  a  horse  that 
had  fits  to  a  man  and  the  horse  run 

51 


Letters     to     Beany 

away  and  threw  the  man  out  and  broak 
his  leg.  and  the  other  man  cheeted 
his  mother  and  sister  out  of  the  most 
of  there  money  and  that  is  the  way  it 
goes,  ennyway  Beany  things  will  be 
diferent  when  we  are  groan  up.  most 
of  the  fellers  will  be  that  way  two. 
Whack  says  he  will  and  Boog  and  Poz 
and  most  of  the  fellers.  Tady  Fenton 
he  says  he  will  and  Skinny  Bruce  he 
says  if  he  ever  teeches  school  he  wont 
ever  lick  a  feller  for  missing  and  he 
wont  have  enny  arithmetic  or  grammer 
in  school,  only  speling  and  geografy. 
ennybody  can  spell  but  arithmetic  and 
grammer  is  hard  and  that  is  why  we 
have  had  to  study  them  so  hard.  I  have 
been  thru  the  grammer  2  times  and  en- 

52 


Letters     to     Beany 

nybody  whitch  has  done  that  had  aught 
to  know  grammer  prety  well. 
Wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  II AMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

\  wish  i  cood  come  down  and  see  you. 
it  is  prety  tirsome  here  now  and  they 
aint  mutch  to  do  xcept  to  go  in  swim- 
ing  and  going  up  to  Pewts  and  then  up 
to  Whacks  and  Pattys  and  doing  the 
same  old  things.  Alf  Kilhum  is  up  to 
Whacks,  he  is  a  city  feller  but  he  is  a 
prety  good  feller  for  all  that,  i  tell  you 
Beany  a  city  feller  dont  have  mutch 

53 


Letters      to      Beany 

chance  to  know  mutch,  i  gess  he  dont 
live  in  a  very  big  city  becaus  he  is  a 
prety  good  butterfly  hunter  and  birds- 
egger.  today  i  coodent  find  enuf  fellers 
to  go  in  swiming.  Fatty  and  parson 
Otis  was  to  the  beach  and  Billy  Swett 
was  there  two  and  all  the  Chadwicks 
had  went  away  somewhere  and  Ed 
Tole  never  goes  in  swiming  and  if  he 
did  i  coodent  go  down  there  ennyway 
and  Mister  Purington  Pewts  father 
wont  let  Pewt  go  with  me  now  becaus 
he  says  i  get  Pewt  into  scrapes,  jest 
think  of  it  Beany,  i  gess  he  dont  know 
Pewt  as  well  as  we  do.  ever  sence  Mis- 
ter Head  licked  Pewt  when  me  and  you 
rung  his  doorbell  they  have  thaugt  me 
and  you  was  tuff  nuts  and  Pewt  was  all 

54 


Letters      to     Beany 

rite,  i  gess  if  i  was  to  tell  some  things 
i  know  about  Pewt  they  woodent  think 
i  cood  hurt  him  mutch,  so  i  had  to  go 
in  swiming  alone,  i  read  a  buly  story 
in  a  book  one  day  about  a  feller  living 
amung  the  indians  and  the  little  indians 
wood  go  in  swiming  and  play  they  was 
mushrats  and  beevers  and  dive  down 
and  get  roots  and  clams  and  things,  so 
i  tride  it  and  it  was  fun.  i  div  down  to 
the  bottom  and  got  some  blew  clay  and 
some  lily  roots  and  fresh  water  clams 
and  then  i  wood  swim  to  the  bank  with 
them  and  squat  down  in  the  sun  like  a 
mushrat  and  then  i  wood  swim  out  dog 
paddle  as  eesy  as  i  cood  like  a  mushrat 
and  then  turn  up  and  dive  down  for 
some  more,  and  it  was  buly.  bimeby 

55 


It  e  t  t  e  r  §     to     Beany 

when  i  was  down  to  the  bottum  diging 
up  some  clay  i  hapened  to  think  what 
if  i  shood  got  cougt  in  a  steel  trap  down 
there  and  how  feerful  it  wood  be  to  pull 
and  yank  and  goggle  and  i  tell  you  i 
come  up  lively  and  swum  to  the  bank 
as  if  a  snaping  tirtle  was  after  me.  aint 
it  funny  how  scart  a  feller  can  get  some- 
times about  something  he  knows  aint 
there,  when  are  you  coming  home, 
wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 
^ 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, 
Dear  Beany, 

I  havent  seen  Pewt  for  most  a  week 
and  i  dont  know  why  he  hasent  wrote 

56 


L,  e  t  t  e  r  §      to      Beany 

you.  Pewt  was  mad  becaus  Fatty  did- 
ent  ask  him  to  join  the  nigger  minstrel 
show,  we  are  going  to  have  it  in  Fat- 
tys  barn  and  we  are  pracktising  hard. 
Fatty  is  going  to  be  interlocationer  the 
feller  whitch  sets  in  the  middle  and 
asks  the  questions  and  Nibby  Hartwell 
is  the  end  man  on  one  end  and  Billy 
Swett  the  other  and  Pop  Clark  makes 
a  speach  and  i  have  got  to  sing  a  song. 
i  shall  sing  shue  fly  or  the  feller  that 
looked  like  me.  it  is  going  to  be  a  big 
show,  i  havent  got  enny  time  to  wright 
enny  more. 
Wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


57 


Letters      to      Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

the  fellers  treeted  me  prety  meen. 
they  have  put  me  out  of  the  show. 
Nibby  Hartwell  wanted  to  sing  the 
feller  that  looks  like  me  and  i  had 
learned  it  and  cood  sing  it  better  than 
Nibby  cood.  Nibby  cant  sing  enny 
more  than  a  cow  but  Fatty  said  he  was 
the  interlocationer  and  it  was  his  to  say 
whitch  shood  sing  and  i  said  that  if 
Nibby  sung  i  woodent  and  so  Fatty  he 
said  i  cood  get  out  for  it  was  his  barn 
and  he  got  up  the  show  and  so  i  got 
out.  i  went  and  saw  Tady  Finton  and 
Skinny  Bruce  and  Jack  Melvin  and 
Mike  Connell  and  Bob  Bruce  and  told 
them  Fatty  and  Nibby  Hartwell  said 

58 


Letters      to      Beany 

they  was  one  show  whitch  dident  have 
enny  padclys  in  it  and  they  was  mad 
and  said  they  wood  paist  time  out  of 
them,  and  o  Beany  Nibby  got  3  lick- 
ings that  afternoon,  and  Fatty  got  2 
yesterday.  Tady  licked  him  ferst  and 
then  Skinny  and  Mike  Connell  both 
licked  him  together,  so  i  gess  i  am 
even  with  them,  i  dont  care  for  there 
old  show  ennyway.  i  had  ruther  ride 
horseback,  i  rode  Mister  Heads  horse 
yesterday  all  the  afternoon,  i  made 
him  gallop  good  i  tell  you. 
Wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


Letters     to      Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

they  had  there  old  show  but  it  did- 
ent  amount  to  ennything.  hardly  enny 
of  the  fellers  went  or  the  girls  eether. 
the  fellers  knew  Nibby  coodent  sing 
and  they  was  mad  becaus  they  thaugt 
Fatty  and  Nibby  said  those  things  about 
the  paddys.  i  went  fishing  today  with 
Potter  Gorham.  Potter  is  the  best  feller 
i  know,  i  never  knew  him  to  have  a  fite 
with  ennyone  and  he  knows  more  about 
fishing  and  birds  and  eggs  and  butter- 
flys  and  stuffing  things  than  enny  feller 
i  ever  see.  i  wish  i  was  like  Potter  i  bet 
he  has  as  mutch  fun  as  enny  feller  in 
town  and  yet  he  always  stops  fites  and 
wont  hook  apples  or  trip  up  peeple  with 

60 


Letters     to     Beany 

strings  or  ring  door  bells  or  play  tit  tat 
on  peeples  windows  or  stick  pins  in  fel- 
lers seats  in  school,  and  yet  he  isent 
a  sissy  feller  eether.  i  never  see  such 
a  feller  but  all  the  fellers  like  him  bet- 
ter than  enny  feller.  Fatty  is  going  to 
have  a  party,  most  of  the  fellers  are 
invited  xcept  me  and  the  girls  two. 
Fatty  is  mad  with  me  becaus  i  told 
Tady  that  he  said  things  about  the 
paddy  and  got  him  a  licking.  Fatty 
will  be  sorry  he  dident  invite  me  to  his 
party,  i  woodent  have  went  if  he  had 
invited  me.  i  dont  care  for  his  party 
ennyway.  did  you  ever  catch  a  bull  frog 
with  a  peace  of  split  bamboo,  if  you 
havent  you  dont  know  what  fun  is.  i 
wood  ruther  do  that  than  go  to  a  party. 

61 


Letters      to      Beany 

i  dont  care  for  Fattys  old  party  enny- 
way.  i  woodent  go  if  i  was  invited. 
When  are  you  coming  home,  wright 

soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 
X 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

brite  and  lair,  i  forgot  when  i  wrote 
that,  i  gess  i  was  thinking  of  some- 
thing else,  this  is  the  last  sheet  of  paper 
i  have  got  and  Cele  says  she  wont  give 
me  enny  more  of  hers,  she  says  i  have 
had  most  half  of  it  already,  well  Beany 
i  have  had  a  great  time  sence  i  wrote 
my  last  letter,  you  know  i  told  you 
Fatty  was  going  to  have  a  party,  well 

68 


Letters      to      Beany 

he  had  it  last  Thursday  in  his  yard. 
Keene  and  Cele  went  all  dressed  up 
and  Genny  Morrison  and  all  the  girls 
and  all  the  fellers  two  but  me  and  Pewt 
and  Skinny  and  Tady  and  Diddley 
Colket  and  Chitter  Robinson  and  some 
of  the  other  fellers  whitch  had  ruther 
fite  and  rase  time  and  ring  doorbells 
than  to  go  to  partys  and  talk  to  the 
girls,  well  i  got  Mister  Head  to  let  me 
ride  his  horse  and  when  the  party  was 
all  out  in  Fattys  yard  playing  crokay 
i  rode  by  jest  galoping  lickety  and  i 
cood  see  them  all  looking  at  me.  then 
i  went  round  by  Maple  street  and  Elm 
street  and  licked  the  horse  and  then 
held  him  in  and  he  dansed  up  the  street 
jest  like  your  fathers  horse  and  the  fel- 

63 


Letters      to      Beany 

lers  in  the  party  all  hollered  at  me  and 
i  cood  see  that  they  was  mad  with  me 
becaus  i  cood  ride  so  good  and  then  i 
leened  over  the  horses  neck  and  yelled 
and  went  up  Front  street  jest  as  fast  as 
he  cood  go.  then  i  timed  round  and 
come  back  slow  and  i  dug  my  heels  in- 
to the  horses  side  and  held  in  tite  with 
the  webbings  and  he  curved  his  neck 
and  fomed  at  the  mouth  jest  like  Johny 
Gibsons  horse  in  the  fair  and  when  i  got 
in  frunt  of  Fattys  yard  i  stoped  and  set 
on  the  horse  and  looked  at  the  party 
sort  of  scornful  and  they  pretended  not 
to  see  me  and  kep  on  playing  crokay 
but  i  cood  see  them  looking  at  me  side- 
ways and  they  coodent  hit  a  ball  or  go 
thru  a  wicket,  and  then  i  was  jest  leen- 

64 


Letters     to     Beany 

ing  over  the  horses  neck  agen  and  was 
starting  to  go  of  galoping  when  some- 
body, i  think  it  was  Boog,  let  ding  at 
me  with  a  slingshot  and  hit  my  horse 
and  he  give  a  feerful  giimp  and  kicked 
up  and  throwed  me  rite  over  his  head 
down  whak  on  the  ground,  well  you 
had  aught  to  heard  them  holler  and  laff. 
i  was  so  ashamed  that  i  never  wanted 
to  get  up  agen  and  i  thaugt  if  they 
thaugt  i  was  dead  they  woodent  laff 
so  mutch,  so  i  laid  still  for  a  minit  and 
i  heard  Whack  say  i  gess  that  nocked 
some  of  the  sence  out  of  him  and  then 
Fatty  said  i  dident  never  have  enny 
sence,  and  Keene  she  said  i  had  more 
than  Fatty  ever  had  and  Cele  she  said 
so  two  and  then  i  kind  of  tride  to  get  up 

65 


Letters      to      Beany 

and  fell  back  and  groned  and  they  all 
come  piling  over  the  fense  to  see  if  i 
was  dead  and  o  Beany  you  had  augt 
to  see  those  girls  shinning  over  the 
fense.  well  they  got  hold  of  me  and 
lifted  me  up  and  i  groned  agen  and 
said  where  am  i  and  they  said  you  have 
fell  from  your  horse  and  i  said  i  havent 
been  on  enny  horse  and  our  side  wood 
have  beat  if  Chitter  Robinson  hadent 
plaid  peanuts  and  kicked  the  ball  over 
the  gool  and  Keene  said  he  dont  know 
what  he  is  talking  about  and  thinks  he 
is  playing  football  and  she  and  Cele 
begun  to  ball  and  then  Genny  Morri- 
son said  to  take  me  into  the  house  and 
the  fellers  lifted  me  and  begun  to  lug 
me  along  and  i  sed  i  remember  now 

66 


Letters     to      Beany 

and  i  asked  where  they  was  taking  me 
and  they  said  they  was  taking  me  into 
Fattys  and  i  said  dont  take  me  there, 
i  aint  good  enuf  to  go  into  Fattys  house 
and  i  tride  to  walk  and  groned  agen. 
well  they  lugged  me  in  and  laid  me  on 
the  sofa  and  Fattys  mother  come  in  and 
got  some  cold  water  and  put  it  on  my 
head  and  i  was  ashamed  enuf  to  play 
it  on  her  but  i  had  to  then,  well  then 
i  said  i  felt  better  and  gessed  i  cood 
walk  home  and  i  triJe  to  and  limped  a 
good  deal  and  held  on  to  the  side  of  the 
door  and  Fatty  said  dont  go  Plupy,  you 
jest  come  out  in  the  yard  and  have 
some  refreshments  and  i  said  i  dont 
want  to  go  where  i  aint  invited  and 
Fatty  he  said  i  was  invited,  and  then  i 

67 


Letters     to     Beany 

said  i  dident  want  to  spoil  ennybodys 
good  time  and  they  all  said  they  wood 
all  have  a  good  deal  better  time  if  i  staid 
and  so  at  last  i  said  i  wood  stay  if  Billy 
Swett  wood  go  down  to  my  house  and 
tell  mother  i  was  all  rite  so  she  wood- 
ent  wurry  and  Aunt  Sarah  two,  and  see 
if  the  horse  got  back  all  rite  and  Tom- 
tit said  he  wood  go  but  i  knew  he  wood 
tell  so  big  a  story  that  they  wood  be 
scart  to  deth  and  woodent  let  me  stay 
to  the  party,  well  Beany  i  went  out  in 
the  garden  and  set  in  a  arm  chair  and 
i  had  sanwiches  and  cake  and  ice  creem 
3  helps  and  lemonaid  and  all  the  girls 
wated  on  me  and  i  was  the  biggest  man 
there,  and  when  i  saw  the  fellers  was 
getting  mad  becaus  the  girls  kep  com- 


JL  e  t  t  e  r  s      to      Beany 

ing  to  ask  me  if  i  wanted  enny  more,  i 
wood  tell  some  good  story  about  them, 
if  i  see  Fatty  was  mad  i  wood  tell  how 
he  lifted  me  up  as  eesy  as  if  i  dident 
way  ennything,  and  if  it  was  Boog  i 
wood  tell  them  how  Boog  stood  rite  up 
and  fit  John  Robinson  who  was  2  times 
as  big  as  Boog.  so  the  fellers  thaugt  i 
was  bully  and  the  girls  two.  Fatty  he 
said  he  dident  know  i  was  such  a  good 
feller  and  he  aint  going  to  have  enny 
more  partys  unless  he  invites  me.  2  or 
3  times  i  forgot  and  most  gumped  out 
of  my  chair  but  i  thaugt  in  time  and 
groned  and  set  down  agen  and  gritted 
my  teeth  and  everybody  wood  ask  if  it 
hurt  me  very  bad  and  i  said  o  no  i  gess 
i  can  stand  it  and  then  i  gritted  my  teeth 


Letters     to     Beany 

some  more  and  breethed  hard,  and  they 
wanted  to  get  me  some  water  and  i  said 
no  dont  go  into  the  house  to  truble 
about  water  give  me  some  lemonaid 
and  they  give  me  some  more,  bimeby 
when  the  party  was  over  Fatty  wanted 
to  take  me  home  in  his  wagon  but  i  said 
no  i  cood  walk  and  i  limped  home,  i 
tell  you  Beany  i  had  the  best  time  in 
my  life  only  i  had  to  limp  2  or  3  days 
more  so  peeple  woodent  know  i  plaid 
it  on  them. 
Wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


70 


Letters      to      Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  never  was  so  sirprised  in  my  life  as 
i  was  when  i  read  your  letter,  i  dident 
think  you  wood  be  meen  enuf  to  say 
you  wood  coppy  my  letter  and  show  it 
to  Fatty  unless  i  sent  back  that  letter 
whitch  you  sent  me  by  mistake,  now 
i  sent  you  my  letter  honest  and  i  thaugt 
you  was  man  enuf  to  keep  it  to  yourself, 
if  you  are  mad  becaus  i  got  invited  up 
to  Fattys  and  had  a  good  time  all  rite, 
that  aint  enny  reason  why  you  shood 
make  a  fool  of  me.  enny  way  i  bet  you 
woodent  like  to  get  throwed  of  a  horse 
and  land  whak  on  the  ground  rite  in 
frunt  of  all  the  fellers  and  girls  and  have 
to  limp  round  and  not  go  in  swiming 

71 


Letters     to      Beany 

for  3  days  when  you  aint  lame  like 
i  did.  and  if  you  are  mad  becaus  the 
girls  wated  on  me  ennyway  it  wasent 
your  girl  and  you  aint  got  ennything  to 
get  mad  for.  now  i  have  been  spend- 
ing 3  cents  for  postage  stamps  2  or  3 
times  every  week  to  wright  you  about 
things  and  i  aint  going  to  do  it  enny 
more,  i  gess  if  i  had  a  uncle  whitch 
owned  a  hotel  and  let  me  come  to  the 
beach  and  spend  all  summer  i  wood  be 
desent  to  a  frend  whitch  had  to  stay  at 

home. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


72 


L<etter§     to     Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  got  your  letter  all  rite,  i  will  agree 
to  what  you  said,  if  you  will  hope  to 
die  and  cross  your  throte  that  you  will 
send  back  my  letter  and  not  keep  enny 
coppy  of  it  i  will  hope  to  die  and  cross 
my  throte  that  i  will  send  your  letter  to 
Lizzie  back  and  not  keep  enny  coppy. 
send  it  tomorow. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  got  your  letter  tonite  and  mine  two. 
i  sent  yours  this  morning,    now  we  are 

73 


Letters     to     Beany 

all  square,  church  has  begun  and  sun- 
day  school  two.  i  had  to  go  to  both, 
they  wasent  any  fun  in  church  becaus 
you  wasent  there  to  blow  the  organ  and 
make  up  faces  at  me.  Micky  Gould 
blew  it  and  fell  asleep  and  they  had  to 
wake  him  up  before  they  cood  sing  the 
last  hym.  some  of  the  girls  come  and 
asked  me  if  i  was  lame  enny  more,  i 
said  no  i  cood  walk  all  rite  only  some 
times  my  hip  hurt  me.  it  does  two 
Beany  only  mother  says  it  is  growing 
pains,  well  Sunday  afternoon  i  went  to 
sunday  school,  they  wasent  many  there 
becaus  most  of  the  girls  dident  go  be- 
caus the  stewdcats  havent  come  back 
yet.  most  always  a  stewdcat  passes 

74 


Letters     to     Beany 

the  tin  pan  for  the  colection  but  they 
wasent  enny  there  and  so  Mister  Erl 
come  down  to  our  class  and  jest  as  i  was 
going  to  jab  a  pin  into  Nipper,  he  asked 
me  to  pass  the  tin  pan  and  asked  Potter 
two.  i  was  awful  ashamed  to  do  it  but 
i  coodent  get  out  of  it  and  so  i  took  one 
tin  pan  and  Potter  took  the  other  and 
we  started,  most  of  the  fellers  pluged 
there  cents  down  hard  into  the  pans  so 
that  it  sounded  loud  and  made  us  laff. 
well  they  was  a  new  minister  that  day 
becaus  our  minister  Mister  Lamed  had- 
ent  got  home,  so  this  minister  set  on  the 
platform  looking  solem  and  when  i  got 
there  i  thaugt  i  had  augt  to  hand  him 
the  tin  pan.  so  i  held  it  out  to  him  and 

75 


Letters     to     Beany 

he  looked  at  me  and  timed  red  and  did- 
ent  take  it  and  i  dident  know  what  to 
do  and  so  i  kep  holding  it  out  and  he 
timed  redder  and  stuck  his  hand  down 
in  his  britches  pocket  and  he  dident 
have  enny  chink  in  that  pocket  and 
then  he  looked  mad  enuf  to  bite  me  and 
he  reeched  way  down  in  the  other  pocket 
and  he  pulled  out  2  cents  and  put  it  in 
the  tin  pan  and  jest  then  Mister  Erl 
come  up  quick  and  grabed  the  pan  and 
i  went  back  to  my  seat,  they  was  all 
laffing  and  when  i  got  home  Keene  told 
father  about  it  and  he  said  i  was  a  prety 
good  colecter  to  make  a  old  minister 
shell  out.  but  all  i  wanted  to  do  was  to 
give  him  the  pan.  enny  way  i  gess  they 
wont  want  me  to  pass  the  pan  enny 

78 


Letters     to     Beany 

more,    ennyway  i  dont  want  to.    when 
are  you  coming  home. 
Wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

they  is  a  feller  here  staying  at  Doc- 
tor Soles,  he  is  a  short  fat  feller  and 
Fatty  calles  him  Stubby  Sole,  he  is  a 
prety  good  feller  only  he  cant  fite.  i 
know  he  cant  becaus  he  dubles  his  fists 
up  with  the  thums  inside,  no  feller  can 
fite  that  way.  i  have  got  a  tin  whissle. 
it  is  a  fine  one  and  i  can  play  the  ferst 
part  of  home  sweet  home  all  but  2  notes 

77 


Letters      to     Beany 

and  when  i  play  it  and  get  to  those  notes 
i  whissle  them  with  my  mouth  and  it 
sounds  prety  good,  father  wont  let  me 
play  when  he  is  home  becaus  he  says  it 
sounds  like  thunder,  that  is  just  the 
way.  he  dont  seam  to  care  ennything 
about  my  music,  some  day  when  he 
sees  me  marching  in  a  band  with  a  red 
coat  and  white  britches  and  a  horse  tale 
in  my  hat  he  will  feel  prety  big.  i  see 
Lizzie  Tole  today  and  she  woodent 
speak  to  me.  Fatty  Melcher  and  Boog 
went  out  gunning  with  a  pistal  and 
when  Boog  fired  the  pistal  it  flew  back 
and  the  cock  of  the  pistal  hit  him  over 
the  eye  and  cut  a  hole  and  it  bled  all 
over  his  shert.  Boog  is  round  with  his 
head  rapped  up  in  a  rag  and  all  the 

78 


Letters      to      Beany 

girls  are  asking  him  if  he  is  better,    the 
best  way  to  get  along  with  girls  is  to  get 
hurt  and  then  they  like  you.    remem- 
ber that  Beany. 
Wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 
X 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  met  a  girl  you  know  yesterday  and 
she  asked  me  if  i  was  mutch  hurt  when 
i  got  throwed  from  the  horse  at  Fattys 
party,  i  told  her  it  hurt  me  prety  bad 
but  i  cood  stand  more  than  that,  she 
said  she  see  me  when  i  fell  and  she 
thaugt  i  was  dead,  i  asked  her  if  she 
wood  be  sorry  if  i  was  dead  and  she 

79 


Letters     to     Beany 

said  she  gessed  she  wood  be  prety  sorry 
and  then  she  ran  of  as  hard  as  she  cood 
and  i  started  to  follow  her  but  i  thaugt 
of  my  lameness  and  so  i  limped  and 
coodent  catch  her.  i  tell  you  Beany  it 
is  funny  how  a  feller  feels  when  he 
knows  a  girl  likes  him.  i  felt  as  if  i 
cood  do  ennything  and  i  met  Nipper 
and  stumped  him  to  fite  and  he  dident 
dass  to  and  then  i  went  up  to  Pewts 
and  Pewt  wasent  there  and  i  gess  i  wood 
have  fit  Pewt  if  he  had  been  there,  so 
i  went  over  to  the  school  yard  and  met 
one  of  the  twin  Browns  and  i  lammed 
him  one  in  the  eye  and  he  run.  the 
other  wasent  there  but  Ed  he  said  he 
wood  lick  me  when  Harry  was  there 
two.  i  bet  they  dassent  try  it  both,  then 
so 


Letter*     to     Beany 

i  walked  by  her  house  but  i  dident  see 
her.    some  day  perhaps  i  will  tell  you 
her  name. 
Wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  have  got  my  hair  cut  and  have  got 
a  new  box  of  paper  collers  down  to  Erl 
and  Cuts  and  a  box  of  blacking,  i 
blacked  my  boots  today.  Keene  be- 
gun to  laff  and  make  fun  of  me  and 
said  i  was  trying  to  be  a  dandy,  i  told 
her  she  had  better  shet  up.  i  met  that 
girl  agen  and  i  give  her  a  little  bag  and 
i  gess  you  wood  like  to  know  what  was 

81 


[Letters     to     Beany 

in  it.  well  Beany  if  you  will  hope  to 
die  never  to  tell,  honest  now  Beany,  i 
will  tell  you.  they  was  2  candy  mottos 
in  it.  one  had  on  it  you  are  my  stary 
eyed  goddess  in  red  letters  and  the 
other  had  on  it  meat  me  by  moonlite 
alone,  then  they  was  2  juju  paists  and 
some  gum  drops,  then  i  run  of  and 
nocked  Medo  Thurstons  hat  of  and 
rooted  him  agenst  the  fense.  Medo  he 
dident  want  to  fite  eether.  i  good  mind 
to  tell  you  her  name  but  i  dont  dass  to. 
you  will  tell,  only  you  needent  be 
afraid,  it  aint  your  girl,  i  hope  she 
will  wright  me  a  letter,  i  am  going  to 
ask  father  to  buy  me  a  new  pair  of 
britches,  she  goes  to  the  congrigation 
church,  i  wish  she  went  to  the  unita- 


Letters      to      Beany 

rial,     then   it  wood  be  fun  to  go  to 
church. 

Wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

Pewt  wanted  me  to  go  fishing  with 
him  today  and  was  mad  becaus  i  wood- 
ent.  i  have  got  something  better  to  do 
than  go  fishing,  i  have  waisted  a  good 
deal  of  time  in  going  fishing,  i  think  a 
feller  had  aught  to  keep  looking  as  well 
as  he  can  instead  of  getting  all  dirt  in 
going  fishing,  next  winter  i  am  going 
to  dansing  school  if  i  can  get  some 
chink.  Beany  can  you  greece  your  hair 


Letters     to     Beany 

frith  lard,  i  havent  got  enny  hair  oil 
becaus  i  spent  all  my  chink,  gess  what 
i  bougt  with  it.  now  Beany  cross  your 
throte  not  to  tell,  i  bougt  a  string  of 
blew  beeds  down  to  old  Polly  Colkets. 
i  give  them  to  her.  she  says  she  likes 
me  better  than  ennybody  she  ever 
knowed.  i  wish  some  of  the  fellers 
wood  sass  her  so  i  cood  lam  time  out 
of  them.  Mister  Head  let  me  take  his 
horse  agen  today  and  i  galoped  him  up 
and  down  in  frunt  of  her  house  and 
made  him  danse.  i  dident  get  throwed 
of  eether  you  bet.  i  am  saving  up  my 
chink  for  some  more  mottos. 
Wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

^  PLUPY. 

84 


Letters     to     Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  tell  you  i  had  a  tuff  time  laitly.  last 
Tuesday  i  had  ten  cents  and  i  bougt 
some  candy  and  a  motto  whitch  had 
on  it  my  love  is  like  a  red  red  rose,  and 
i  et  a  little  of  it  and  i  forgot  and  put  the 
motto  in  my  mouth  before  i  thaugt  but 
i  took  it  out  and  set  it  in  the  sun  until 
it  was  dry  and  it  looked  as  well  as  ever 
xcept  that  the  red  letters  were  a  little 
blirred.  so  i  give  her  the  candy  and 
she  give  me  a  horsehair  ring,  well  the 
next  thing  i  got  was  a  note  whitch  said 
what  did  i  meen  by  insulting  her.  gosh 
Beany  i  dident  know  what  to  do,  so  i 
wrote  her  and  said  i  dident  know  what 
she  ment  and  if  she  wood  go  by  the 

85 


Letters      to      Beany 

school  yard  at  4  oh  clock  i  wood  like  to 
see  her.  so  i  went  down  at  4  oh  clock 
and  gess  what  the  matter  was.  she  said 
i  give  her  a  motto  whitch  said  my  love 
has  got  a  red  red  nose,  and  she  give  me 
the  motto  back  and  i  looked  at  it  and 
it  did  look  like  that  it  was  so  blirred. 
well  i  xplained  and  i  made  it  all  rite, 
i  dident  tell  her  i  had  it  in  my  mouth 
you  bet.  so  it  is  all  rite. 
Wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 
^€ 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

can  you  lend  me  25  cents,     i  have 
spent  every  cent  i  had  for  that  girl  and 
M 


Letters     to     Beany 

the  last  present  i  made  her  she  dident 
like,  she  give  it  back  to  me  becaus  she 
said  it  was  so  smelly,  it  was  a  chane 
made  of  a  lobsters  wigglers.  you  take 
those  long  stems  that  grow  out  of  a  lob- 
sters head  and  then  take  some  sizzers 
and  cut  them  up  in  little  even  beads 
and  string  them  on  a  string  and  it 
makes  as  prety  a  chane  as  you  ever 
see  only  it  smells  like  salt  fish  and  when 
it  dries  it  tirns  yellow,  well  ennyway 
it  was  all  i  cood  give  her  becaus  i  did- 
ent have  enny  chink  and  i  cant  get  a 
gob.  i  went  up  to  Mager  B lakes  stable 
to  see  if  i  cood  get  a  gob  washing  wag- 
ons but  they  said  no.  so  Beany  if  you 
will  lend  me  the  25  cents  i  will  pay 
you  back  the  ferst  gob  i  can  get.  i  did- 

ST 


Letters     to     Beany 

ent  think  it  cost  so  much  to  make  a  girl 
like  you.  i  supposed  a  girl  cood  like  a 
feller  without  having  him  give  her  pres- 
ents all  the  time,  how  is  it  Beany,  this 
is  the  ferst  girl  i  ever  had  and  you  have 
had  a  good  many  and  so  you  know 
more  about  it  than  me.  you  must  have 
spent  a  good  deal  of  chink  on  girls,  i 
like  this  girl  without  her  giving  me 
enny  presents. 

Wright  jest  as  soon  as  you  can  and 
send  me  the  25  cents. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


Letters     to      Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE,  -  .  186- 
Dear  Beany, 

Why  havent  you  wrote,  if  you  cant 
lend  me  25  cents  lend  rne  15  or  10  only 
say  whitch. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE,  -  ,  186- 
Dear  Beany, 

i  got  your  letter  and  the  25  cents  but 
it  come  two  late  Beany,  she  is  mad 
with  me.  i  will  tell  you  all  about  it  as 
long  as  you  were  buly  enuf  to  send  me 
the  money,  if  you  cood  sent  it  jest  a 
day  before  she  woodent  have  been  mad. 
but  i  gess  it  woodent  have  done  mutch 

89 


Letters      to      Beany 

good  becaus  she  wanted  somthing  all 
the  time  and  i  wood  have  to  be  prety 
ritch  to  buy  her  somthing  every  day. 
i  have  been  most  crazy  i  have  been  so 
retched  and  i  most  wished  i  was  ded. 
i  tell  you  Beany  they  aint  ennything  so 
bad  as  to  have  your  girl  get  mad  with 
you  and  keep  mad  espesialy  when  she 
goes  with  a  nother  feller,  if  a  girl  gets 
real  mad  and  runs  her  tung  out  at  you 
and  says  she  wont  never  speek  to  you 
agen,  you  can  most  always  make  up  by 
giving  her  some  of  old  Si  Smiths  gooz- 
berrys  or  some  juju  paist  or  sometimes 
some  new  gum  that  aint  been  chewed, 
but  when  she  goes  of  with  a  nother  fel- 
ler becaus  he  is  biger  than  you  and  can 
lick  you  then  they  aint  no  use.  and 

90 


Letters     to     Beany 

when  that  other  feller  and  you  has  a 
fite  and  he  licks  you  they  aint  no  use 
neether.  i  tell  you  Beany  it  is  tuff,  they 
has  been  times  when  i  have  lost  my 
best  rooster  or  had  him  get  licked  by 
Ed  Toles  and  i  never  yipped,  but  this 
was  the  wirst  thing  i  ever  had  hapen 
to  me.  now  Beany  you  cross  your  throte 
not  to  tell  and  hope  to  die  two  and  i 
will  tell  you  about  it.  jest  as  soon  as 
you  wright  me  that  i  will  tell  you  all 
about  it  if  i  am  not  ded  or  in  jale  for  i 
may  do  some  auful  thing  i  feel  so  tuff. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


Letters      to      Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

all  rite  i  will  tell  you  all  about  it  only 
dont  you  forget  that  you  have  crossed 
your  throte  and  hoped  to  die.  well  it 
is  a  prety  tuff  story  and  shows  how 
meen  a  girl  can  be.  i  dont  beleeve 
enny  girl  ever  liked  a  feller  xcept  for 
what  she  can  get  out  of  him.  perhaps 
you  dont  beleeve  so  Beany  but  i  do. 
well  this  girl,  and  i  aint  going  to  wright 
her  name  down  but  i  will  tell  you  when 
you  come  home  Beany  if  you  ever  are 
coming,  but  i  wont  wright  it.  well  she 
wanted  me  to  give  her  1  of  those  waches 
that  wind  up  with  a  key  and  click  jest 
like  a  real  wach.  some  of  the  girls  has 
got  them  and  she  wanted  one.  they 


Letters     to     Beany 

cost  35  cents  and  i  dident  have  a  red 
cent  for  i  had  spent  it  all  on  her.  she 
was  kind  of  mad  about  the  lobster  neck 
chane  and  she  said  i  wood  be  a  meen 
feller  if  i  dident  give  her  a  wach  and 
she  said  Fatty  Melcher  wood  give  her 
one  if  she  wood  go  with  him.  so  i  went 
down  to  Lane  and  Rollins  and  asked 
them  if  they  wood  trust  me  for  the 
wach.  father  told  me  that  he  wood 
lick  time  out  of  me  if  i  ever  got  trusted 
for  ennything.  i  dont  see  why  he  shood 
get  mad  at  me  for  it  becaus  he  always 
gets  trusted  at  old  Si  Smiths  for  things 
and  every  month  when  he  pays  his  bill 
he  and  old  Si  has  a  row  and  they  jaw 
and  swear  and  bimeby  they  get  over 
their  mad  and  father  pays  the  bill  and 

93 


Letters      to     Beany 

old  Si  gives  father  a  segar  whitch  burns 
up  all  one  side  and  curls  up  and  father 
throws  it  away  and  swears  about  it.  well 
ennyway  old  Lane  woodent  trust  me 
for  the  wach  and  then  i  tride  to  borrow 
the  money,  i  asked  Fatty  and  Fatty  he 
dident  have  enny  money  and  then  i 
asked  Pewt  and  Pewt  he  said  he  did- 
ent have  enny  chink  and  then  i  asked 
you  and  i  knew  you  wood  get  it  if  you 
cood.  well  what  do  you  think.  Fatty 
Melcher  had  been  trying  to  cut  me  out 
and  i  gess  he  had  been  saving  up  his 
chink,  ennyway  he  went  down  to  old 
Lanes  and  he  bougt  a  wach  and  give 
it  to  her  and  i  met  her  with  it  on  and  i 
asked  where  she  got  it  and  she  said  it 
wasent  enny  of  my  business,  ennyway 

94 


Letters      to      Beany 

it  wasent  me  whitch  give  it  to  her  be- 
caus  i  was  two  meen  to  give  her  enny- 
thing  xcept  old  smelly  lobster  chanes 
and  things  whitch  dident  cost  me  enny- 
thing  and  she  said  she  wasent  going  to 
go  with  me  enny  more,  so  she  went  of 
without  looking  at  me  and  i  went  home 
and  set  on  the  back  fence  most  all  day. 
i  wondered  who  give  her  the  wach  but 
i  dident  know  until  the  next  day  when 
i  saw  Fatty  Melcher  walking  with  her 
and  when  they  saw  me  they  both  be- 
gun to  laff  as  hard  as  they  cood  and 
talk  together  and  woodent  look  at  me. 
well  the  next  day  i  met  Fatty  and  he 
rooted  me  of  the  sidewalk  and  i  asked 
him  if  he  wanted  enny  part  of  me  and 
he  give  me  a  nother  root  and  i  give  him 

95 


Letter*      to      Beany 

a  paist  in  the  mouth  and  he  give  me 
one  in  the  eye  and  we  went  at  it  and  he 
got  me  down  and  i  turned  him  and  then 
he  turned  me  and  we  roled  into  the  gut- 
ter and  he  got  on  top  of  me  and  lammed 
me  and  bimeby  old  Bill  Greenleef  he 
come  up  and  grabed  Fatty  and  puled 
him  of  and  shook  him  up  lifely  for  lick- 
ing a  feller  whitch  wasent  as  big  as  he 
was.  Fatty  he  give  me  a  black  eye  and 
a  skined  nose  and  my  mouth  was  all 
swole  up  but  i  dident  yip.  well  when 
i  went  home  mother  washed  my  eye  and 
put  some  brown  paper  and  viniger  and 
some  of  docter  Derborns  sarve  on  it 
and  told  me  i  coodent  go  out  of  the 
yard  until  father  come  home,  and  when 
father  come  home  he  asked  me  what  i 

96 


Li  e  t  t  e  r  §      to      Beany 

was  fiting  about  and  i  said  Fatty  rooted 
me  of  the  sidewalk  and  i  give  him  one 
and  then  we  had  it.  he  asked  me  what 
Fatty  rooted  me  for  and  i  said  i  dident 
know  becaus  i  hadent  done  nothing  to 
him  only  he  jest  come  up  and  give  me 
a  root  and  i  said  i  gess  i  had  jest  as  good 
a  rite  on  the  sidewalk  as  he  had.  then 
father  he  asked  me  if  i  had  enny  truble 
with  Fatty  and  i  said  that  Fatty  hadent 
yipped  to  me  and  i  hadent  yipped  to 
him  but  Fatty  he  jest  come  up  and  give 
me  a  slam  and  i  give  him  a  paist  and 
then  we  fit  and  he  was  bigger  than  me 
and  got  me  down  and  licked  me  and 
father  he  asked  me  if  i  holered  enuf  and 
i  said  i  bet  i  dident  and  if  he  wanted  to 
know  he  cood  ask  old  Bill  Greenleef. 

97 


L,  e  t  t  e  r  §     to      Beany 

so  that  nite  father  he  see  Bill  down 
town  and  asked  Bill  and  Bill  he  said  i 
fit  good  and  dident  yip  and  when  father 
come  home  he  give  me  25  cents  but  it 
was  two  late,  so  that  is  all  they  was 
about  it  Beany  only  it  is  prety  tuff  on 
me.  i  aint  so  very  mad  with  Fatty  only 
me  and  Fatty  was  frends  and  i  dident 
supose  he  wood  play  it  on  me  like  that. 
next  to  Potter  Goram  Fatty  is  the  best 
pikerrel  fisher  in  town  xcept  Cawcaw 
Harding,  ennyway  me  and  Fatty  wont 
go  fishing  enny  more,  when  are  you 
coming  home. 
Wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


98 


Letters     to     Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  was  going  to  send  back  your  25 
cents  scrip  in  this  letter  but  yesterday 
they  was  a  circus  come  to  town,  it  did- 
ent  intend  to  come  here  but  it  was  going 
to  Portsmuth  and  they  was  a  nother 
show  there  and  so  they  come  here,  they 
had  a  good  prosession  and  a  buly  band, 
well  i  dident  feel  mutch  like  going  enny- 
where  but  i  went  out  and  got  folowing 
the  band  and  went  up  to  the  circus 
grounds,  well  they  was  Fatty  Oilman 
and  Billy  Swett  and  Nibby  Hartwell 
was  going  in  and  Fatty  Melcher  was 
there  two  only  Fatty  dident  have  enny 
chink  and  that  girl  was  there  two  look- 
ing at  the  tent  and  so  when  i  see  her 

99 


Letters      to     Beany 

and  Fatty  i  said  to  the  fellers  if  they 
wood  let  me  buy  all  the  tickets  i  cood 
get  them  cheeper,  so  they  give  me 
there  25  cents  eech  and  i  went  up  and 
bougt  4  tickets  for  a  dollar  and  when 
i  got  back  to  the  fellers  i  said  loud  so 
she  and  Fatty  Melcher  cood  hear  come 
on  in  fellers  its  my  treet  and  the  fellers 
they  piled  in  and  she  and  Fatty  were 
left  outside  looking  prety  cheep  and 
thinking  i  had  paid  for  all  the  tickets, 
well  it  was  a  prety  good  show  only  i 
coodent  help  feeling  bad  about  how 
meen  she  treeted  me  and  madder  than 
ever  with  her  and  mad  with  Fatty  two. 
well  when  the  show  was  over  we  all  went 
out  together  and  she  was  there  and 
Fatty  two  and  i  said  loud  so  they  cood 
100 


Letters      to     Beany 

both  hear  i  gess  i  will  go  agen  tonite,  it 
was  the  best  show  i  ever  see.  i  knew 
that  father  wood  go  with  all  of  us  be- 
caus  he  always  goes  to  the  circus  and 
takes  me  two.  i  gess  she  will  be  sorry 
she  got  mad  with  me  and  i  gess  Fatty 
will  be  sorry  two  becaus  if  he  hadent 
spent  all  his  chink  in  bying  her  that 
wach  he  cood  have  went  to  the  circus, 
i  gess  he  will  know  better  next  time,  i 
havent  got  over  it  yet  Beany  only  i  feel 
better  every  time  i  make  her  or  Fatty 
feel  bad. 

Wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


101 


Letters      to      Beany 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

You  needent  get  mad  about  your  old 
25  cents,  if  you  dident  want  to  trust 
me  for  it  what  did  you  lend  it  to  me  for. 
i  woodent  have  asked  you  for  it  if  i  had- 
ent  thaugt  you  wood  be  willing  to  lend 
it  to  me.  ennyway  i  will  pay  you  the 
ferst  gob  i  can  get.  i  know  money  is  a 
prety  good  thing  to  have  but  i  havent 
got  enny  now  or  i  wood  send  it  to  you. 
i  think  i  can  rase  it  in  a  few  weeks, 
aint  it  about  time  for  you  to  come  home, 
they  dont  seem  to  be  ennyone  to  rase 
time  with  now  you  aint  here,  i  have 
been  thinking  a  good  deal  laitly  about 
what  is  the  use  of  trying  to  be  desent. 
i  think  the  feller  whitch  rases  time  has 
102 


Letter§      to     Beany 

more  fun  than  the  feller  whitch  tries 
to  be  desent.  all  xcept  Potter  Goram 
and  they  aint  any  feller  jest  like  Potter, 
so  if  you  will  come  home  Beany  we  will 
ring  some  doorbells  and  try  and  trip 
up  some  peeple  with  ropes. 

Wright  and  let  me  know  when  you 
are  coming. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

if  i  was  you  i  woodent  have  mutch 
to  do  with  the  girls,  you  know  you  are 
prety  easy  to  get  liking  a  girl  but  if  you 
aint  earful  you  will  get  it  plaid  on  you 

103 


Letters      to      Beany 

jest  like  i  did  and  then  you  will  wish 
you  hadent.  i  send  you  a  ten  cent 
scrip  of  the  25  cents  i  owe  you.  i  got 
this  for  washing  a  wagon  for  old  Head, 
i  am  going  to  wash  a  nother  for  him  to- 
morrow or  next  day  and  i  will  pay  you 
that,  i  was  going  to  by  one  of  those  lit- 
tle pocketbooks.  have  you  seen  them, 
they  open  on  one  side  and  you  put  your 
scrip  on  top  of  2  peaces  of  ribbon 
and  then  you  shet  up  the  pocket  book 
and  open  it  on  the  other  side  and  your 
scrip  is  under  the  ribbons,  i  dont  see 
how  it  is  done  but  it  does  it  every  time, 
so  dont  you  be  afrade  about  your 
money,  i  will  send  it  jest  as  quick  as  i 
can  ern  it.  Perry  Moltons  astrakan  ap- 

104 


Letters     to     Beany 

pies  and  august  sweatings  is  most  ripe, 
so  you  had  better  come  home. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Beany, 

i  send  you  ten  more  cents  in  this  let- 
ter, that  only  makes  5  more  i  owe  you. 
i  have  been  in  swiming  every  day  most 
this  summer,  i  can  throw  my  hat  into 
the  middle  of  the  river  and  then  dive  in 
and  swim  under  water  and  come  up 
with  the  hat  on  my  head,  none  of  the 
other  fellers  can  do  it.  i  have  lerned  to 
tirn  back  and  frunt  somersets  and  do 

105 


Letters      to      Beany 

the  whirlagig  only  i  cant  float,    i  gess 
i  am  two  skiny.    i  gess  if  i  have  good 
luck  i  can  send  that  5  cents  prety  soon. 
Wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE,  -  ,  186- 
Dear  Beany, 

Buly.  i  am  so  glad  you  are  coming 
home,  i  will  be  on  hand  wating  for 
you  at  the  depot.  Joe  Parner  has  got 
a  new  pair  of  horses  on  his  hack  and 
Charles  Tole  and  Mager  Blake  has  a 
fite  most  every  day  over  passengers  for 
the  beach,  they  is  lots  to  do.  Perry 
Moltons  apples  are  ripe  enuf  to  hook 

106 


Letters      to      Beany 

and  old  Missis  Sawyers  doorbell  and 
Ike  Shutes  doorbell  two  hasent  been 
rung  all  summer  and  i  gess  if  we  dont 
trip  up  old  Hobbs  before  long  it  wont 
be  our  fait,  i  will  be  there  Beany  when 
the  cars  come  in  and  i  will  have  some 
of  old  Si  Smiths  goozberrys  two. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 


107 


THE   fcOVE-LETTERS 
OF    PtUPY    Sill  TE 


Tin:    LOVE-LETTERS 
OF     PL.UPY      SUITE 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 
0    have  been  thinking  i  wood  wright 

Iyou  a  letter  becaus  i  dident  know 
but  you  mite  wright  me  one  back 
if  i  wrote  you  one  ferst.  only  dont 
you  show  this  letter  to  enny  of  the  girls 
and  i  wont  show  your  letter  to  enny 
of  the  fellers  that  is  if  you  wright  me 
one.  i  am  wrighting  this  behine  my 
geografy  and  old  Francis  keeps  looking 
over  towerds  me.  i  have  got  %  sheets  of 
paper  on  my  desk  wrighting,  this  one 
to  you  and  when  i  see  old  Francis  look- 
ing or  coming  towerds  me  i  slip  this  in 

ill 


The      Love-Letters 

my  geografy  and  am  bizzy  wrighting 
the  capitals  of  the  states  like  this 

Maine  Agusta  on  the  Kennebeck 

River. 
New  Hamshire    Concord  on  the  Merri- 

mack  River. 

Massachusets    Boston  on  Massachusets 
Bay 

and  then  when  old  Francis  aint  looking 
i  am  wrighting  to  you.  once  today  old 
Francis  come  up  and  said  Harry  what 
are  you  wrighting  and  i  looked  kind  of 
sheapish  and  he  told  me  to  give  it  to 
him,  and  i  did  and  he  took  it  and  looked 
as  if  he  was  going  to  paist  me  one  but 
when  he  saw  what  i  had  wrote  he  said 
i  was  a  good  boy  and  he  made  a  speach 
112 


Of      Plnpy      Shnte 

to  the  school  and  said  if  all  the  fellers 
wood  do  that  he  wood  be  glad,  i  gess 
if  he  had  seen  what  i  was  wrighting  to 
you  he  wood  had  me  in  the  wood-box. 

i  like  yon  more  than  enny  girl  in  town. 
i  dident  know  how  mutch  i  liked  you 
till  i  saw  you  walking  with  Nipper,  i 
hoap  you  wont  ever  go  with  him  again. 
dont  tell  ennybody  i  like  you  becaus 
the  fellers  wood  laff  and  the  girls  wood 
make  fun  of  you.  and  then  i  wood  have 
to  lam  sumbody.  i  can  skin  the  cat  and 
hang  by  my  heels  on  the  trapeese.  i 
can  lick  Nipper  two. 

Now  you  wright  me  wont  you 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 


113 


The     Love-Letters 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

i  got  your  letter  and  was  jest  as  glad 
as  i  cood  be.  i  was  auful  glad,  i  dont 
know  when  i  have  been  so  glad,  i  did- 
ent  know  wether  you  wood  wrote  or 
not  and  when  i  got  it  i  was  glad  i  can 
tell  you.  i  went  down  to  the  postofice 
5  times  yesterday,  i  like  you  Mary,  i 
never  liked  ennybody  so  well  before,  i 
only  liked  one  girl  before  and  she  went 
of  with  Fatty  Melcher  becaus  he  had 
more  chink  than  i  had.  ennyway  i  am 
glad  she  did  go  of  with  Fatty  becaus  if 
she  dident  i  woodent  have  went  with 
you  and  that  wood  have  been  prety 
tuff,  ennyway  she  is  mad  with  Fatty 
becaus  he  hasent  enny  chink  and  now 

114 


Of     P  I  it  p  y      Shnte 

she  wood  like  to  go  with  me  agen  but 
she  has  lost  her  chanse. 

This  morning  in  school  when  the 
third  class  was  reading  a  little  sun- 
beem  in  the  sky  said  to  himself  one  day, 
i  thougt  of  you  becaus  you  look  so  brite 
every  morning  when  you  come  into 
school  in  your  blew  dress  and  your 
white  apron,  i  have  been  to  school  erly 
sense  i  wrote  you  so  i  cood  see  you  come 
in.  i  shall  never  go  with  enny  girl  but 
you.  i  send  you  2  mottos. 

Wright  me  as  soon  as  you  get  this 

letter. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 


The     Love-Letters 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

i  got  your  letter  and  the  motto,  it 
was  the  best  motto  i  ever  see.  i  went 
by  your  house  6  times  and  only  saw 
you  2  times,  i  wish  i  cood  see  you  every 
time  for  i  like  you  better  than  enny  girl 
i  know,  i  dremp  last  nite  that  me  and 
you  was  sliding  down  Factory  hill  and 
that  the  duble  runner  went  rite  of  the 
brige  and  threw  the  ice  and  i  see  you 
drownding  and  you  holered  save  me 
Plupy,  no  i  ment  save  me  Harry. 

and  Beany  and  Nipper  and  Fatty 
Melcher  and  all  the  fellers  stood  round 
and  dident  dass  to  do  ennything,  but  i 
div  rite  in  and  seezed  you  and  was 
swiming  to  the  shore  with  you  when  i 

116 


Of      Plupy      Shute 

woke  up  and  it  was  summer,  that  is 
jest  what  i  wood  do  if  you  fell  in  the 
river  and  was  drownding,  and  Beany 
and  Nipper  and  Fatty  Melcher  and 
Whack  and  all  the  other  fellers  wood- 
ent  dass  do  ennything  but  gorp  round, 
while  i  wood  dive  rite  in.  that  is  me 
evry  time,  will  you  go  boat  ride  with 
me  tomorow  afternoon,  meat  me  down 
at  my  boat  and  i  will  have  some  of 
old  Si  Smiths  goozberrys.  You  looked 
auful  prety  today  when  you  come  into 
school,  i  tride  to  draw  your  picture 
but  old  Francis  come  down  the  ile  and 
i  tore  it  up.  i  send  you  a  motto,  it  says 
remember  me  when  i  am  gorn.  i  hav- 
ent  been  fealing  very  well  laitly.  i  gess 
i  hurt  myself  when  i  got  throwed  of 

117 


The     Love-L<etters 

the  horse,  sometimes  i  have  a  auful 
pane  in  my  heart,  but  i  dont  say  mutch 
about  it.  i  may  not  live  to  be  groan  up 
but  if  i  dont  i  hope  you  will  remember 
me.  when  we  sung  Annie  Lyle  in  school 
this  morning  i  thougt  of  you. 

be  sure  and  wright  me  as  soon  as 
you  get  this  and  leeve  it  in  the  hollow 
apple  tree. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 
HARRY  SHUTE. 

p.s.  i  have  got  so  used  to  wrighting 
to  Beany  that  i  sined  my  name  Plupy 
before  i  thougt. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 

118 


Of      P  1  ii  p  y      $  li  11  t  e 

p.s.  agen.  if  i  was  you  i  woodent 
have  mutch  to  say  to  Beany  or  Pewt 
they  is  prety  bad  fellers. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUP 
HARRY  SHUTE. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

i  got  your  letter  and  was  disapointed 
becaus  your  mother  woodent  let  you 
go  boat  ride  with  me.  she  mite  have 
let  you  come  down  to  the  boat,  i  had 
the  goozberrys  and  some  juju  paist 
two.  i  had  washed  the  boat  out  and 
had  a  shorl  for  you  to  set  on.  i  felt  prety 
bad  when  i  wated  till  3  oh  clock  and  then 

110 


The      Love- Letters 

i  went  up  to  the  apple  tree  and  when 
i  reeched  in  and  found  your  letter  i  felt 
better,  it  was  real  good  of  you  to  send 
me  the  horsehair  ring,  i  will  keep  it  as 
long  as  i  live  and  will  wair  it  when  the 
fellers  aint  looking,  i  send  you  a  ring 
two.  i  got  it  in  a  candy  packige.  the 
man  whitch  sold  me  the  packige  said 
they  was  one  ring  in  them  whitch  was 
wirth  a  good  deel  of  money  and  when 
i  showed  it  to  him  he  said  i  had  got  it. 
he  said  he  was  sorry  i  got  it  becaus  he 
coodent  sell  enny  more  of  these  pack- 
iges  and  wood  have  to  send  for  some 
more,  i  told  him  i  woodent  tell  enny- 
body  but  he  said  it  woodent  be  honest 
becaus  he  woodent  say  they  was  enny 
ring  like  mine  in  them,  he  said  there 
120 


Of      Plnpy      Shnte 

was  some  other  things  in  them  so  i  bougt 
2  other  packiges  but  i  dident  get  enny 
prise,  and  i  am  going  to  by  my  candy 
of  him  he  is  so  honest,  i  shall  go  out  to 
the  tree  tomorow  for  a  letter  and  shall 
be  disapointed  if  you  dont  wright. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 

p.s.  i  am  fealing  better  today,  my 
pane  is  not  so  bad.  i  try  hard  not  to 
let  peeple  see  i  am  sufering  all  the 

time. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 

p.s.  agen.    be  sure  and  wright. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 
121 


The     LoTe-Letters 

p.s.  a  2nd  time,    remember  i  like  you 
better  than  enny  girl  i  have  ever  knew. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HA.RRYSHUTE. 
X 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

this  is  the  ferst  time  you  have  dis- 
apointed  me  in  not  wrighting  me.  i 
went  to  the  tree  in  the  morning  and  at 
noon  and  before  school  in  the  after- 
noon and  after  school  and  after  supper 
and  jest  before  i  went  to  bed  and  i  did- 
ent  find  enny  letter,  i  tell  you  i  did- 
ent  sleep  mutch  last  nite  and  my  pane 
come  on  wirse  than  ever,  i  saw  you 
talking  to  Beany  two  when  i  went  by 
your  house.  Beany  had  better  look 

122 


Of     Plnpy      Shnte 

out  for  i  am  a  bad  feller  when  i  am  mad. 
i  supose  your  folks  think  Beany  is  quite 
a  big  man  becaus  he  can  wair  his  best 
close  evry  day  but  it  aint  the  folks 
whitch  wair  the  best  close  whitch  is  the 
best  fellers,  i  cood  tell  some  things 
about  Beany  if  i  was  meen  enuf  and  i 
will  if  he  keeps  going  over  to  your  house, 
i  wood  tell  some  things  about  Pewt  and 
Nipper  and  Fatty  Melcher  only  i  aint 
meen  enuf.  i  shall  go  down  to  the  tree 
for  a  letter  and  if  you  dont  wright  i 
shall  know  jest  why,  and  Beany  had 
better  look  out.  i  gess  you  woodent 
go  with  Beany  if  you  knew  some  things 
whitch  i  know. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 

123 


The      Love-Letters 

p.s.    dont  you  think  Lizzie  Tole  is 
awful  pretty,    i  do. 

Yours  very  respectively, 
PLU 
HARRY  SHUTE. 

p.s.  agen.    and  Genny  Morrison  two. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary — Miss, — 

you  hadent  enny  reason  to  be  mad 
at  me.  i  bet  you  woodent  like  it  if  i  was 
wrighting  to  you  and  was  going  with 
some  other  girl  like  Beany  and  Pewt 
and  some  of  the  other  fellers  do.  but 

124 


Of      Plnpy      Shnte 

if  i  say  ennything  when  i  see  you  going 
with  Beany  you  get  mad  jest  like  a  girl, 
a  girl  thinks  she  can  go  with  about  40 
fellers  at  once  and  when  enny  one  of 
those  40  fellers  jest  speak  to  a  nother 
girl  they  is  a  row. 

ennyway  that  is  the  way  most  girls 
do,  but  i  know  one  that  is  diferent  and 
if  you  are  going  round  with  enny  feller 
you  see  i  am  going  to  go  with  this  girl, 
i  shant  tell  you  her  name  neether  but  it 
aint  Mary,  i  met  Beany  last  nite  and 
stumped  him  to  fite  and  he  stumped 
me  to  come  half  way  and  if  his  mother 
hadent  come  out  and  called  him  in  i 
wood  have  lammed  time  out  of  him. 
ennyway  i  tore  the  rim  of  of  his  new 
straw  hat  and  the  ribbon  two.  he  will 

125 


The      Liove-L<etters 

have  to  wair  his  old  hat  the  next  time 
he  comes  over  to  your  house,  girls  is 
jest  like  hens,  they  always  go  with  the 
rooster  whitch  has  the  most  red  fethers 
in  his  neck  and  the  longest  spirs.  i  am 
going  down  to  Ed  Toles  tonite  to  play 
crokay  with  Lizzie  and  May  Rundlet 
and  some  others,  it  is  a  party  and 
Beany  cant  go  becaus  he  hasent  got 
enny  good  hat.  that  is  what  happens 
to  fellers  whitch  play  meen  tricks  on 

me. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLUPY. 
HARRY  SHUTE. 

p.s.  i  gess  they  will  have  ice  creem  to 
the  party,  i  am  going  to  take  down 
the  goozberrys  and  the  juju  paist  i  was 

126 


Of      P  1  11  p  y      Shute 

going  to  give  you.  i  send  you  a  motto, 
whitch  says  she  has  left  me  for  a  nother. 
i  never  thougt  i  shood  have  to  send  you 
one  like  that. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

i  was  auful  glad  to  get  your  letter 
and  sorry  i  had  got  so  mad  about  your 
going  with  Beany,  if  i  hadent  liked 
you  so  well  i  woodent  have  been  so 
mad.  if  a  feller  dont  like  a  girl  he  dont 
ever  care  if  she  goes  with  another 
feller,  i  tell  you  i  have  felt  prety  terri- 
ble for  2  or  3  days,  i  went  down  to  the 

127 


The      Love-Letters 

party  and  played  crokay  but  nothing 
seamed  the  same,  i  dont  beleive  i  have 
slep  enny  for  2  or  3  nites  and  some 
times  the  pane  in  my  heart  has  been 
dredful.  they  has  been  fellers  whitch 
has  killed  themselfs  rather  than  sufer 
so.  ennyway  it  is  all  rite  now  you  aint 
mad  enny  more,  i  have  been  wirking 
hard  for  J.  Albert  Clark  and  for  old 
Head  and  i  erned  enuf  money  to  by 
you  a  chane  of  blew  beeds.  it  is  jest 
the  coler  of  your  eyes,  i  hope  you  will 
like  it  becaus  it  cost  me  a  grate  deel  of 
money. 

as  soon  as  i  got  your  letter  i  went  rite 
down  and  bougt  it.  if  i  had  not  got 
your  letter  i  shood  have  throne  the 
chane  into  the  fire,  i  shood  never 

128 


Of     P  I  11  p  y      Shnte 

wanted  to  see  it  agen.  i  hope  you  will 
wair  it  becaus  it  cost  me  a  grate  deel 
of  money.  Wright  as  soon  as  you  get 

this. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 

p.s.    i  hope  you  will  wair  this  chane 
becaus  it  cost  me  a  grate  deel  of  money. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 

p.s.  agen.    i  dont  know  enny  girl  as 
prety  as  you  are. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 


129 


The     Ij  ore-Letters 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186 

Dear  Mary, 

it  is  a  prety  good  thing  to  go  to  the 
apple  tree  and  not  be  disapointed.  i 
went  this  morning  2  times,  once  be- 
fore i  et  my  breakfast  and  the  2nd 
time  jest  before  school,  i  dident  realy 
expect  to  get  a  letter  the  ferst  time  but 
if  i  hadenfr  got  one  the  second  time  i 
shood  have  felt  prety  bad.  when  i  went 
to  school  i  missed  in  evry  lesson  and 
when  old  Francis  put  me  in  the  wood- 
box  and  shet  down  the  cover  i  dident 
care,  i  looked  thru  the  peep  hole  in 
the  woodbox  rite  at  you  all  the  time, 
you  looked  auful  prety  with  that  new 
red  bow  and  i  tell  you  i  felt  prety  good 
when  Beany  reeched  his  gum  out  to 

ISO 


Of      P  1  11  p  y      S  h  u  t  e 

you  and  you  woodent  take  it.  and 
when  Beany  got  snaked  up  on  the  plat- 
form i  most  dide  laffing  and  thougt  it 
served  him  rite,  i  had  a  good  pin  ready 
and  if  old  Francis  had  put  him  in  the 
woodbox  i  wood  have  jabed  him  one 
even  if  i  had  got  licked  for  it.  me  and 
Beany  has  been  frends  for  years  but 
we  aint  going  to  be  mutch  longer  if  he 
keeps  giving  you  gum  and  things,  i 
gess  if  i  liked  a  girl  i  woodent  give  her 
enny  gum  all  chewed  up.  i  wood  give 
her  beeds  and  rings  and  things  that  cost 
a  grate  deel  of  money,  i  went  down  to 
the  candy  mans  store  today  and  bougt 
2  packiges  of  candy  but  i  dident  get 
enny  prise,  he  says  they  is  a  gold  wach 
in  one  of  them,  i  havent  et  enny  of  the 

131 


The     Love-Letters 

candy  and  i  am  going  to  rap  it  in  brown 
paper  and  leeve  it  in  the  apple  tree 
with  this  letter  and  when  you  get  this 
letter  you  will  know  i  give  you  the 
candy,  i  will  tie  the  packige  with  blew 
string  that  is  jest  the  coler  of  your  eyes. 
Be  sure  and  go  to  the  apple  tree  to 
get  this  letter,  and  wright  me  and  dont 
have  ennything  to  do  with  Beany. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 
p.  s.    or  Pewt  nether. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.  s.  agen.    or  Fatty  Melcher  or  Nip- 
per or  Whack  or  enny  of  the  fellers. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


132 


Of      Plnpy      Shute 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

today  is  Sunday  and  i  am  going  to 
sunday  school  and  to  church  two.  there 
aint  enny  fun  xcept  when  Beany  blows 
the  organ  and  peeps  out  behind  it  and 
makes  up  feerful  faces.  Beany  has  lost 
his  place  5  times  for  rasing  time  in  the 
organ  loft  but  they  cant  get  ennybody 
to  blow  the  organ  but  Micky  Gould 
and  he  always  goes  to  sleep  and  that  is 
wirse  than  making  faces,  sometimes 
when  Micky  is  there  he  goes  to  sleep 
and  when  the  sirmon  is  over  and  the 
minister  reads  the  last  hym  the  old 
organ  keys  rattle  and  they  aint  enny 
sound  comes,  and  then  Mister  Wood 
goes  round  behine  the  organ  and  gives 

133 


The     Lore-Lett  era 

Micky  a  bat  and  he  gumps  up  and 
goes  to  blowing  the  organ,  i  wish  you 
went  to  this  church  and  Sunday  school. 
i  wood  like  to  go  beter  than  i  do  now 
and  i  wood  always  be  on  time,  but  it 
always  hapens  that  the  girls  i  have 
liked,  i  meen  the  fellers  whitch  i  like, 
for  i  havent  ever  liked  enny  girls  until 
i  liked  you,  have  went  to  some  other 
church,  i  was  glad  you  liked  my  candy, 
i  wanted  some  of  it  to  eat  myself  but  i 
wood  ruther  you  wood  have  it  than  me. 
i  wood  like  to  give  you  evrything  i  have 
got.  that  is  me  evry  time,  some  of  the 
fellers  are  two  meen  for  ennything.  i 
aint.  i  dont  see  how  a  feller  can  like  a 
girl  and  not  want  to  give  her  evry  thing 
he  has  got.  Beany  and  Pewt  and  most 

134 


Of      Plnpy      Shnte 

of  the  fellers  is  diferent.  i  am  afrade 
Pewt  knows  something  about  me  and 
you  becaus  he  called  me  Mary  today. 
Pewt  had  better  shet  up.  if  he  dont  he 
will  find  out  somthing.  they  is  going 
to  be  a  lecture  in  the  Unitarial  church 
tonite.  it  dont  cost  ennything  to  go  in. 
i  shall  be  there,  i  hoap  you  will  be  there 
two.  i  shall  look  for  you  when  you 
come  out.  now  be  sure  and  go. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.    if  you  like  me  like  you  said  you 
did  jest  wair  the  ring  i  give  you. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


185 


The      Liove-L,etters 

p.s.  a  2nd  time,    i  shall  look  for  that 

ring. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.  a  3rd  time,  and  for  you  two. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

why  did  you  go  to  the  lecture  last 
nite  with  your  mother,  i  was  there  al- 
most the  ferst  one  and  set  in  the  back 
seat  where  i  cood  see  evrybody  whitch 
come  in  and  bimeby  in  you  come  with 
your  mother,  that  was  enuf  for  me  be- 
caus  i  was  going  to  wate  outside  and 

136 


Of     Plnpy      Shnte 

go  home  with  you.  i  never  knew  you 
to  look  so  prety  as  you  did  last  nite.  a 
girl  most  always  looks  best  when  som- 
body  else  is  with  her  and  you  cant  go 
home  with  her.  i  dont  know  mutch 
about  girls  only  i  gess  that  is  the  way 
they  look,  ennyway  that  was  the  way 
you  looked  last  nite.  i  tride  the  candy 
mans  packiges  agen  but  i  dident  get 
enny  prise,  so  i  have  rapped  the  candy 
up  in  a  paper  and  left  it  in  the  tree  so 
you  can  get  it.  i  have  also  left  a  corn 
ball  two.  i  dident  eat  a  single  peace 
but  i  wanted  two.  but  i  thougt  they 
woodent  be  enuf  for  you  and  so  i  did- 
ent eat  enny.  that  is  me  evry  time, 
some  of  the  fellers  is  diferent.  but  i 
aint.  i  am  going  to  wirk  wensday  after- 

137 


The     Iiove-Lietters 

noon  and  ern  some  money  to  by  you 
sumthing,  i  shant  say  what,  i  have  had 
a  good  deel  of  pane  laitly  and  it  is  al- 
ways wirse  when  i  wirk.  but  i  dont 
care,  some  of  the  fellers  coodent  stand 
it  but  i  can.  i  dont  beleeve  Beany  cood 
or  Pewt.  Wright  me  as  soon  as  you  get 
this.  Pewt  hasent  said  ennything  more 
to  me  and  he  hadent  better,  i  gess  he 
hasent  found  out  ennything. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.    dont  forget  to  go  to  the  tree  and 
get  this  letter  and  dont  forget  that  i  like 
you  better  than  enny  girl  in  town. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


198 


Of     Plnpy      Shnte 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

sombody  has  plaid  a  meen  trick  on 
me.  i  bet  it  was  Pewt  but  i  dont  know, 
ennyway  he  hasent  said  ennything. 
when  i  went  to  get  your  letter  i  reeched 
my  hand  down  into  the  hole  and  the 
hole  was  full  of  soft  sope. 

i  got  my  arm  into  it  way  up  to  the 
elbo.  i  dident  know  what  it  was  at 
ferst  but  i  soon  found  out.  i  thougt 
they  might  be  a  letter  there  and  after 
i  found  out  it  was  sope  i  puled  up  my 
sleave  and  reeched  down  agen  but  i  did- 
ent get  enny  letter,  i  woodent  be  meen 
enuf  to  play  a  trick  on  a  feller  like  that, 
i  will  put  this  letter  in  the  post  ofice  and 
this  afternoon  i  will  hunt  round  for  a 

139 


The     Love-Letters 

nother  tree  whitch  none  of  the  fellers 
know,  i  think  i  can  find  one.  i  send 
you  2  mottos  whitch  i  got  in  a  popcorn 
packige.  i  havent  had  enny  luck  in  get- 
ting prises,  i  have  kep  the  popcorn  for 
you  and  as  soon  as  i  can  find  a  tree 
with  a  hole  in  it  i  will  leeve  it  there  with 
somthing  else  two.  i  havent  mutch 
time  to  wright  for  i  have  got  to  find  a 
tree.  Wright  me  and  put  your  letter 
in  the  post  ofice  for  it  wood  be  jest  like 
Pewt  to  put  a  snaping  mud  tirtle  in  the 
tree  or  a  steal  trap. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.     be  sure  and  dont  leeve  enny- 

140 


Of      Plnpy      Shnte 

thing  in  that  tree,    you  may  get  bit  or 

stang. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

i  watched  today  to  see  if  Pewt  or 
Beany  went  to  the  tree  and  what  do  you 
think,  about  10  minits  after  i  got  hid 
behine  the  fence  i  see  Pewt  and  Beany 
sneeking  along  with  somthing  in  there 
hands,  well  they  went  towerds  the  tree 
and  peeked  in  and  then  reeched  in  with 
a  dipper  and  cleened  out  the  hole  and 
then  they  put  somthing  in  that  they 

141 


The     Love-Letters 

had  in  a  bag.  after  they  had  went  away 
i  went  up  to  see  what  it  was  and  they 
was  a  dead  snake  there,  i  took  it  out 
and  i  am  going  to  put  it  in  Beanys  bed 
if  i  can  get  the  chanse.  i  am  glad  you 
dident  put  enny  letter  there  before  they 
put  the  sope  in.  if  they  had  got  your 
letter  they  wood  read  it  and  told  evry 
body,  i  shoodent  ever  think  you  wood 
want  to  speek  to  Beany  agen  after  he 
had  plaid  that  trick  on  you.  if  you  had 
reeched  your  hand  in  and  got  hold  of 
that  snake  you  mite  have  gone  crasy. 
i  herd  of  a  girl  whitch  did  once. 

i  bet  Beany  and  Pewt  and  Fatty 
Melcher  was  all  in  it.  it  wood  be  jest 
like  them,  they  woodent  care,  i  bet 
they  wood  jest  as  livs  put  a  ratle  snake 

142 


Of      Plnpy      Shute 

in  there,  they  woodent  care,  i  hoap 
you  will  never  speak  to  them  agen.  i 
have  found  a  nise  tree  with  a  hole  on 
it.  it  is  rite  inside  of  Comadore  Longs 
yard  rite  on  the  corner,  no  body  wood 
ever  think  of  looking  there,  i  will  leeve 
2  cornballs  there  in  a  bag.  you  looked 
auful  prety  today,  i  like  you  with  your 
hair  hanging  down,  it  dont  look  so 
well  in  a  net.  i  send  you  a  motto,  it 
says  if  you  love  me  as  i  love  you  no 
nife  can  cut  our  love  in  to.  that  is  me 
evry  time.  Wright  soon  and  put  the 
letter  in  the  tree,  i  have  got  somthing 
for  you.  gess  what. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


143 


The     LoTe-IiCtteri 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

i  got  your  letter  and  your  motto, 
when  i  get  a  letter  from  you  like  that 
and  a  motto  i  dont  care  if  i  miss  in 
school  or  if  i  get  licked,  i  feal  so  good 
all  the  time,  i  keep  thinking  of  you 
all  the  time,  when  old  Francis  stood 
you  up  on  the  platform  today  and  you 
felt  so  bad  i  jest  up  and  did  somthing 
so  that  he  licked  me  and  all  the  school 
was  looking  at  me  instid  of  you.  i  tell 
you  it  hurt  but  i  dident  yip.  i  bet 
Beany  wood  and  Pewt  two  and  Fatty 
Melcher.  i  was  mad  with  old  Francis 
for  standing  you  up  on  the  platform 
and  some  day  when  i  am  groan  up  i 
will  pay  him  up  for  it.  i  dont  care  about 

144 


Of      Plupy      Shnte 

lickings,  they  aint  mutch,  but  when 
we  was  in  the  speling  match  i  knew 
how  to  spell  beleive  but  i  spelt  it  wrong 
perpose  so  you  cood  beat  me.  i  dont 
often  spell  ennything  rong  but  i  wood 
miss  in  speling  or  in  arithmetic  or  geog- 
rafy  or  ennything  for  you.  that  is  me 
evry  time,  i  am  going  to  the  tree  the 
ferst  thing  tomorow  morning. 
Wright  soon. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.   you  are  the  pretiest  girl  in  town. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


145 


The     Love-Letters 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

how  did  you  like  the  corn  balls,  i 
hoap  you  liked  them  and  i  hope  you 
like  me  two.  if  you  only  like  me  half 
as  good  as  i  like  you  i  shood  be  satis- 
fide.  i  coodent  get  a  chanse  to  put  that 
snake  into  Beanys  bed  so  i  pluged  it 
into  his  well  and  they  will  pull  it  up 
some  day,  in  the  bucket  and  then  either 
Beany  or  Pewt  will  get  a  good  licking. 
Beanys  father  wont  think  it  was  me  for 
i  havent  went  over  there  for  a  grate 
while,  so  i  bet  he  will  lick  time  cut  of 
Beany  or  Pewt.  that  is  what  fellers  get 
by  being  meen.  it  was  the  meenest 
thing  i  ever  knew  to  put  a  dead  snake 
in  that  hole  in  the  tree,  i  woodent  be 

146 


Of      P  1  11  p  y      S  Ii  11  t  c 

so  meen  as  that  for  ennything.  wood 
i.  you  know  i  woodent.  i  aint  that  kind 
of  a  feller.  Beany  is  and  so  is  Pewt.  i 
am  going  down  to  the  candy  mans  to 
by  some  more  packiges  of  candy  and 
see  if  i  can  get  a  prise  for  you.  i  wood 
do  ennything  for  you.  dont  wate  to  get 
this  before  you  wright. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.    remember  i  like  you  better  than 
ennybody. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


147 


The     Love -Letters 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

the  gratest  thing  has  hapened.  i  went 
down  to  the  candy  mans  and  the  ferst 
packige  i  drew  had  the  best  brest  pin  i 
ever  see.  i  send  it  in  this  letter,  the  man 
felt  prety  bad  becaus  he  said  it  was 
prety  tuff  luck  on  him  becaus  the  pin 
had  aught  to  be  wirth  7  dolars.  jest 
think  of  it.  i  mite  have  wirked  a  month 
hard  and  i  coodent  erned  2  dolars  and 
here  i  have  drew  a  pin  wirth  7  dolars 
and  it  only  cost  me  10  cents,  if  it  had 
cost  me  100  dolars  i  wood  give  it  to  you. 
i  tell  you  i  feal  prety  good  over  it.  a 
nother  thing  that  makes  me  feal  prety 
good  is  that  Beany  got  a  licking. 

148 


Of      Plupy      S  h  ii  t  e 

this  morning  when  i  went  out  i  see 
Mister  Watson  Beanys  father  go  out 
to  draw  a  pail  of  water,  i  wached  him 
and  he  timed  the  handel  and  got  the 
bucket  up  and  went  to  tirn  the  water 
in  the  pail  when  he  give  a  yell  and 
droped  the  bucket,  then  he  looked  in- 
to the  bucket  and  then  he  got  a  stick 
and  puled  out  the  snake  and  then  he 
went  into  the  barn  and  got  his  whip 
and  come  out  and  yelled  Elbrige  and 
when  he  calls  Beany  Elbrige  he  is  mad. 
so  Beany  he  come  out  and  said  yes 
father  jest  as  polite  and  Mister  Wat- 
son said  what  did  you  put  that  snake 
into  the  well  for  and  Beany  said  he  did- 
ent  and  Mister  Watson  he  said  you 

140 


The     Love-Letters 

did  for  i  saw  you  with  that  snake  3  days 
ago  and  he  grabed  Beany  by  the  col- 
ler  and  paisted  him  good,  i  nearly  dide 
to  see  Beany  runing  round  his  father 
and  balling  and  saying  that  Pewt  did 
it.  then  Mister  Watson  he  said  that  if 
Pewt  ever  come  into  his  yard  agen  he 
wood  horsewhip  him.  i  gess  Beany  wont 
try  enny  more  meen  tricks  on  me.  i 
hoap  you  will  like  that  brest  pin  whitch 
is  wirth  7  dolars  and  i  hoap  you  will 
like  me  becaus  i  give  it  to  you. 

Wright  soon  and  wright  longer  let- 
ters. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLU 
HARRY. 


150 


Of      Plnpy      S  h  11  t  e 

p.s.  i  dont  beleev  they  is  many  girls 
whitch  have  fellers  whitch  give  them 
more  things  than  i  do. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.    that  is  becaus  i  like  you  best. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIBE,  -  ,  186- 
Dear  Mary, 

i  was  sorry  you  wore  your  net  today. 
i  dont  think  a  net  is  as  prety  as  your 
hair,  ennyway  you  look  so  mutch  pret- 
ier  than  the  other  girls  that  it  dont  make 
mutch  diference.  aint  that  tree  a  good 
place  to  put  letters  in.  i  have  put  a 

151 


The     Love-Letters 

shuger  heart  in  this  letter  with  a  peace 
of  blew  ribbon  on  it  whitch  says  you 
are  the  quean  of  my  heart,  you  are 
two.  i  have  been  thinking  what  i  shall 
do  when  i  am  a  man.  i  wanted  to  be  a 
bandman  but  i  gess  i  will  be  a  geweler 
becaus  i  can  then  give  you  waches  and 
dimonds  and  rubbies  and  perls  and 
gold  clocks.  Then  agen  gewelers  has 
lots  of  chink  and  can  have  troting  horses 
and  evrything  and  go  to  danses  and  to 
the  beach  summers  and  wair  a  white 
vest  and  long  legged  boots  and  laven- 
der britches  and  a  velvet  coat  and  a 
beever  hat  and  carry  a  cane  or  a  horse 
whip  with  a  ivory  handel  and  meer- 
shum  pipe  with  silver  trimmings,  when 
i  am  a  geweler  i  am  going  to  have  2 

152 


Of      Plupy      Shute 

white  horses  and  a  buggy  and  dress 
jest  like  that  and  you  shall  have  a  blew 
silk  dress  and  crokay  slippers  and  a 
beeded  dolman  and  a  long  white  fether 
in  your  hat  and  a  wach  and  chane.  i 
am  going  to  ask  father  tonite  if  i  can 
leeve  school  and  go  to  wirk. 

Wright  soon  and  tell  me  what  you 
think  of  it. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.     it  will  be  prety  tuff  not  to  see 
you  enny  more  in  school. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLU 
HARRY. 


153 


The      Liove-lietters 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

i  asked  father  last  nite  if  i  cood  go 
into  Dane  Quimbys  store  to  wirk  and 
lern  to  be  a  geweler  and  he  said  i  had 
better  lern  to  split  up  my  kindlins  be- 
fore i  went  to  wirk  for  ennybody  else, 
he  said  if  i  wanted  to  wirk  they  was 
enuf  to  do  at  home  but  i  said  i  wanted 
to  be  a  geweler  and  ern  some  money 
and  he  said  i  dident  know  enuf  to  be  a 
geweler.  he  said  he  thougt  i  wood  make 
a  harness  maker  and  i  cood  go  to  wirk 
for  old  Kellog  and  he  gessed  after  i  had 
got  a  strap  worn  out  on  me  i  wood  be 
glad  to  go  to  school. 

i  dident  dass  to  tell  him  what  i  wanted 
to  go  to  wirk  for.  that  is  jest  like  him. 

154 


OfPlnpy      8  h  11  t  c 

he  wont  ever  let  me  stop  going  to  school. 
i  think  it  is  meen.  why  dident  you  say 
you  liked  me  in  your  last  letter,  you 
have  said  it  in  most  evry  letter  before. 
you  do,  dont  you. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.  i  have  left  a  stick  of  creem  candy 
in  the  tree. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE,  -  ,  186- 
Dear  Mary, 

i  thougt  you  wasent  going  with  enny 
other  feller,  i  see  you  walking  with 
Billy  Swett  yesterday  and  i  was  mad. 

155 


The      Love-Letters 

was  that  the  reason  why  you  dident 
wright.  perhaps  you  think  becaus  Billy 
Swetts  father  is  a  docter  and  lives  in  a 
big  house  down  town  that  he  is  a  better 
feller  than  i  am.  Billy  Swett  had  better 
look  out.  You  had  better  look  out  two. 
i  had  bougt  2  cornballs  and  a  peace  of 
rock  candy  for  you  but  if  you  spend  all 
your  time  going  with  Billy  Swett  and 
not  wrighting  me,  i  am  going  to  eat  it 

all. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 

p.s.    i  shall  keep  it  over  tomorow  to 
see  if  i  get  a  letter. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 

156 


Of      Plupy      Shute 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^"^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*^*****^^^^ 

p.s.  a  2nd  time,  i  cood  tell  you  som- 
thing  about  Billy  Swett  if  i  was  meen 
enuf.  i  gess  you  woodent  want  to  go 
with  him  if  you  knew. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 
X 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

i  got  your  letter  all  rite,  of  course 
you  have  to  be  polite  to  fellers  only  you 
needent  go  walking  with  them  all  the 
time,  i  wish  you  woodent  wright  my 
name  Harrie.  i  never  see  a  feller  whitch 
wrote  the  end  of  his  name  ie  whitch 
cood  fite. 

if  you  know  enny  feller  whitch  spells 
his  name  Willie  or  Jamie  or  Jonnie 
whitch  amount  to  ennything  i  shood 

157 


The      Love-Letters 

like  to  see  them,  i  bet  i  cood  lick  enny 
one  of  them  with  1  hand  tide  behine 
my  back,  perhaps  they  is  better  fellers 
and  can  wair  red  necktis  and  blew  rib- 
ons  in  there  hat.  i  know  you  dont  like 
that  kind  of  fellers  becaus  girls  most 
always  like  fellers  whitch  can  fite  and 
i  can  fite  terrible,  i  gess  you  have  never 
see  me  mad.  how  did  you  like  your 
creem  candy,  you  dident  say  enny- 
thing  about  it  in  your  letter,  i  dont 
think  you  wright  as  good  letters  as  you 
did  at  ferst.  you  aint  mad  with  me  for 
nothing  are  you. 

Wright  soon  and  tell  me  you   aint 

mad. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 
^« 

158 


Of      Plupy      Shute 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

why  havent  you  sent  me  enny  mot- 
tos  laitly.  if  you  havent  got  enny  you 
mite  write  me  what  a  motto  says  in 
your  letter,  i  wood  like  it  jest  as  well, 
i  have  been  by  your  house  lots  of  times 
and  you  havent  come  to  the  window 
but  2  times,  has  ennybody  been  tell- 
ing lies  about  me.  if  they  have  you 
needent  beleive  enny  of  them,  you  dont 
ack  as  you  usted  to.  this  morning  in 
school  i  hemmed  to  you  till  i  thougt  old 
Francis  wood  catch  me  and  put  me  in 
the  wood-box  and  you  woodent  look, 
i  see  you  chewing  some  gum  in  school 
yesterday,  did  Billy  Swett  give  it  to 
you.  i  dont  think  you  are  fair  to  me, 

159 


The      iLove-iLetters 

i  know  somthing  is  the  matter,  i  wood 
like  to  know  what  it  is.  i  have  spent 
evry  cent  i  cood  ern  bying  you  things 
and  you  dont  treet  me  desent.  i  did- 
ent  sleep  hardly  enny  last  nite.  i  kep 
thinking  what  if  i  shood  die  wood  enny 
body  be  sorry,  i  have  got  mad  with 
Beany  and  Pewt  and  most  of  the  fel- 
lers and  now  you  ack  as  if  you  was  mad 
with  me.  i  think  you  are  making  a 
mistake,  here  i  am  giving  up  being  a 
bandman  jest  for  you  and  am  going  to 
be  a  geweler  jest  so  i  can  give  you  evry- 
thing  and  gewelry  and  other  things  and 
a  pair  of  white  horses  and  crokay  slip- 
pers and  a  gold  mounted  harness  and 
ice  creem  evry  day.  You  wont  get  such 
things  if  you  go  with  Beany,  for  Beany 

160 


Of      Plupy      Shnte 

is  going  to  be  a  stable  keeper  and  he 
will  have  to  run  a  hack  to  the  depot 
and  fite  for  passingers  jest  like  Mager 
Blake  and  Charles  Tole  and  clean  of  his 
horses  and  he  will  smell  of  the  stable  all 
the  time  and  you  cant  get  enny  chanse  to 
ride  becaus  the  horses  has  got  to  be  let. 
then  Pewt  says  he  is  going  to  be  a  painter 
and  he  will  keep  falling  of  of  ladders 
and  steeples  and  will  be  brougt  home 
all  pudding,  and  Billy  Swett  is  going 
to  be  a  docter  and  he  will  be  cutting 
peeple  up  rite  in  the  parler  enny  time, 
and  they  will  be  hollering  terrible,  so 
you  had  better  stick  to  me  for  i  am  all 
rite,  i  send  you  2  mottos  in  this  letter 
and  i  have  left  some  figs  in  the  tree. 
Wright  me  as  soon  as  you  get  this 

161 


The      Love-Letters 

and  tell  me  if  you  like  me.    i  shall  wurry 
until  i  get  your  letter  and  then  i  shall 
wurry  more  if  it  aint  a  good  letter. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.  those  figs  were  some  new  ones 
that  jest  come,  i  got  them  in  old  Tom 
Conners. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.  a  2nd  time.  Beany  wood  have  et 
them  himself. 

p.s.  a  3rd  time,  and  so  wood  Pewt 
and  Billy  Swett. 


162 


Of      Plupy      Shute 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

Your  letter  made  me  feal  a  little  bet- 
ter but  it  wasent  as  good  as  some  of 
them,  i  read  it  over  5  times,  ever  sence 
Pewt  and  Beany  found  out  about  the 
other  tree  i  havent  had  so  good  letters 
from  you.  if  you  are  afrade  somebody 
will  find  your  letters  you  can  put  the 
letters  in  the  postofice.  i  send  you  a  3 
cent  stamp  for  if  you  put  it  in  the  post- 
ofice i  will  pay  for  the  stamps,  i  had 
ruther  you  wood  put  them  in  the  tree 
for  it  is  more  fun  to  get  them,  it  is  al- 
most as  good  fun  as  birds  egging  and 
evry  time  i  go  to  the  tree  i  feel  jest  like 
i  do  when  i  find  a  birds  nest  and  am 
climing  the  tree  to  see  if  they  is  enny 

163 


The      Love-Letters 

egs  in  it.  it  wood  be  more  fun  only 
when  i  dont  get  enny  letter  i  am  dis- 
apointed  terrible  and  when  they  aint 
enny  eggs  i  dont  care  so  mutch,  when 
i  go  to  the  tree  i  feal  nervuser  and  ner- 
vuser  and  when  i  reech  in  and  find  one 
i  feal  jest  as  if  i  had  found  a  dolar  and 
when  i  dont  get  one  i  feal  jest  as  if  i  had 
lost  2  dolars.  i  have  been  saving  my 
money  for  a  long  time  to  by  you  som- 
thing.  i  have  got  most  enuf  but  not 
quite,  i  wood  take  it  out  of  my  cornet 
money  but  aunt  Sarah  keeps  that  and 
i  dont  dass  to  ask  her  for  she  wood 
make  me  tell  what  i  wanted  it  for.  i 
wood  had  enuf  before  this  but  i  have 
spent  all  i  cood  spair  for  mottos  and 
candy  and  figs,  i  send  you  a  motto  and 

164 


Of      Plupy      Shute 

i  have  put  a  cornball  in  the  tree,    i  gess 
you  will  be  glad  when  you  get  my  pres- 
ent.  Wright  me  a  good  letter  this  time. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.    you  cood  never  gess  what  that 
present  is. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

PLU 
HARRY. 

p.s.  a  2nd  time,    it  is  the  best  one 

yet. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


165 


The     Love-Letters 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

Your  last  letter  was  the  best  you  have 
wrote  for  a  long  time,  i  had  wurred 
most  to  deth  over  it.  i  dont  beleive  you 
know  how  mutch  i  had  wurred.  you 
never  had  to  wurry  about  my  letters 
becaus  i  always  wrote  the  best  ones  i 
cood  xcept  1  or  2  when  i  thougt  you 
was  going  with  some  other  feller,  then 
i  got  kind  of  mad  and  wrote  things 
that  i  hadent  augt  to  have  wrote,  but 
that  was  only  becaus  i  was  mad  and  a 
feller  never  meens  ennything  he  says 
when  he  is  mad.  that  is  why  fellers  is 
diferent  from  girls,  girls  always  meen 
things  they  say  when  they  get  mad  and 
fellers  dont.  jest  as  soon  as  fellers  get 

166 


Of      Plnpy      Shute 

over  there  mad  they  dont  ever  remem- 
ber what  they  said  but  girls  do.  i  send 
you  a  picture  whitch  i  drew  of  you  to- 
day in  school,  this  is  the  pretiest  one 
i  ever  drew  but  it  isent  as  prety  as  you. 
not  nearly,  if  i  had  some  colered  cray- 
ons i  wood  paint  your  eyes  and  dress 
blew  and  your  cheeks  red  jest  like  they 
are.  i  hoap  you  will  keep  this  pinned 
up  in  your  room,  you  needent  tell  enny- 
body  who  drew  it.  now  dont  tell  enny- 
body  but  if  you  hear  enny  singing  in 
frunt  of  your  house  tonite  it  will  be  me. 
i  am  going  to  give  you  a  serrynade.  i 
read  in  a  book  once  that  when  a  feller 
likes  a  girl  better  than  enny  other  girl 
he  goes  under  the  window  with  a  gittar 
and  sings. 

167 


The      Love-Letters 

i  havent  got  enny  gittar  but  i  have 
got  a  tin  whisle  and  i  will  play  a  tune 
ferst  and  then  i  will  sing  and  then  you 
come  to  the  window  and  wave  your 
hand. 

Now  dont  forget  to  be  wating  for 
me.  i  gess  i  shall  by  your  present  to- 
morow  or  next  day. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.    dont  forget  the  serrynade. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


168 


Of      Plnpy      S  li  11  t  e 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

did  you  hear  me  last  nite.  i  never 
had  such  a  time,  i  wated  in  my  room 
til  9  oh  clock  practising  my  tune  on  the 
tin  whisle.  when  the  town  bell  rung  9 
i  went  down  to  your  house  and  clim 
over  the  fense  and  went  under  your 
window,  i  had  run  so  fast  that  i  cood- 
ent  play  for  a  long  time,  then  your 
father  come  out  and  set  on  the  steps 
and  begun  to  smoke  his  pipe  and  his 
dog  come  with  him  and  begun  to  growl 
and  bark,  i  was  scart  but  your  father 
gave  him  a  kick  and  made  him  shet  up 
and  lay  down,  i  was  all  behine  the  cur- 
rant buches  and  i  dident  dass  to  move, 
well  bimeby  your  father  and  the  dog 


The     Liove-I^etters 

went  in  and  then  i  plaid  shoo  fly  all  rite 
and  then  i  begun  to  sing  Annie  Lile  and 
your  father  stuck  his  head  out  of  the 
window  and  holered  who  is  making 
that  cussed  noise  and  i  shet  up  and  did- 
ent  dass  to  yip  and  then  i  heard  him 
call  the  dog  and  i  run  and  clim  over 
the  fence  and  put  for  home,  when  i 
got  home  i  shet  the  gate  and  got  2  big 
rocks  and  wated  for  the  dog  but  he  did- 
ent  come,  wasent  it  tuff  on  me.  did 
your  father  know  who  was  serrynading 
you. 

Wright  me  about  it  as  soon  as  you 
get  this. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


170 


Of      Plnpy      Shute 

p.s.  i  droped  my  tin  whisle  in  your 
yard  when  i  run.  if  you  find  it  leeve  it 
in  the  tree. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.  a  2nd  time,    the  juju  paist  you 
find  in  the  tree  i  got  for  you. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

i  hoap  you  will  find  my  whisle.  enny- 
way  i  was  glad  to  get  your  letter,  last 
nite  i  bougt  your  present,  it  cost  a  grate 
deel  of  money,  it  is  a  eligant  braselet, 
a  coral  braselet.  i  have  been  saving  for 

171 


The      LiOve-iLetters 

it  for  a  long  time,  i  hoap  you  will  like 
it.  if  i  had  100  braselets  i  wood  give 
you  evry  one. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.    i  hoap  you  will  like  it. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 

p.s.  a  2nd  time,    i  have  been  saving 
for  it  a  long  time. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 
X 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186- 

Dear  Mary, 

i  dont  know  what  you  meen.    i  put 
that  braselet  in  the  tree  jest  as  i  said  i 

172 


Of      Plupy      S  h  11  t  c 

did.  i  know  it  dident  fall  on  the  ground. 
i  put  it  way  in.  sombody  has  stole  it. 
who  do  you  supose  done  it.  i  had  been 
saving  for  it  so  long,  it  was  the  best 
one  i  ever  see.  i  will  find  out. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY. 


EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE,  -  ,  186- 
Dear  Mary, 

i  never  got  such  a  letter  in  my  life. 
for  you  to  say  such  a  thing,  honest  and 
hoap  to  die  and  cross  my  throte.  i  put 
that  braselet  in  the  tree  jest  as  i  wrote 
you.  if  you  dont  beleive  i  ever  bougt  it 
you  jest  go  down  to  Polly  Colkets  store 
and  ask  her.  for  you  to  call  me  meen 

173 


The     Love-Letters 

after  all  i  have  did  for  you.  i  have  gave 
you  juju  paist  and  goozberrys  and  corn 
balls  and  shuger  hearts  and  creem  candy 
and  figs  and  a  brest  pin  and  a  ring  and 
mottos  and  i  have  got  mad  with  most 
of  the  fellers  i  usted  to  go  with  and 
now  you  call  me  meen  and  think  i  am 
a  Her  becaus  sombody  has  stole  that 
braselet.  some  fellers  has  killed  them- 
selfs  for  things  like  that,  you  will  be 
sorry  for  this  when  i  am  ded. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 

p.s.    it  will  be  two  lait  then. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 


174 


Of      Plupy      Shnte 

EXETER,  NEW  HAMSHIRE, ,  186 

Miss  - 

i  shall  never  wright  or  speek  to  you 
agen.  no  body  can  call  me  a  Her  2 
times  and  be  f rends,  now  i  will  tell 
you  this,  i  dident  lie  when  i  said  i  give 
you  that  braselet.  you  can  beleive  it  or 
not.  i  supose  you  will  keep  my  brest 
pin  and  ring,  girls  most  always  do. 
ennyway  i  send  you  back  your  old  hair 
ring,  i  dont  want  it.  i  dont  want  those 
figs  and  juju  paist  and  cornballs  and 
mottos  and  creem  candy  and  things,  i 
wood  like  my  whisle  and  i  bet  you  have 
found  it  two  and  wont  return  it.  a  girl 
whitch  will  treet  a  feller  as  meen  as  you 
have  treeted  me  will  do  ennything. 

175 


The      Liove-lietters 

some  girls  do  diferent.     i  know   one. 
she  hasent  got  red  hair  eether. 
Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 

p.s.    or  freckles. 

Yours  very  respectively, 

HARRY  SHUTE. 


176 


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